Eternal Sunshine
by sunshine-faery
Summary: What if Bella had made the healthy choice and never jumped off the cliff on that fateful day...
1. Pressure

**Eternal Sunshine**

**Summary:** (Set during New Moon) What if Bella made the healthy choice and never jumped off that cliff?

**Disclaimer:** The story and characters belong to the fabulous Stephenie Meyer, obviously not me! I'm merely borrowing them to amuse myself!

**A/n:** Hey guys and girls, here is my second Twilight fic, been working on it for a while and was waiting until it's complete to post it online. Okay so before I get hit with the flames I have to admit that I am and will always be a Jacob fan so I'm sorry to all you Edward lovers, so here's a warning to you all this story is about Jacob and Bella! I always felt so sorry for Jacob and I'm secretly in love with him (yes I know he's too young for me, I don't care!) But here's to you fellow Jacob fans. There are a few small parts in this chapter taken directly from New Moon and some are borrowed but edited but I'm sure you'll notice them, all credit goes to the beloved Stephenie Meyer! Please leave feedback, I love to hear what you think and as always constructive criticism is welcome. Just don't bother flaming because it is pointless and just plain rude!

I dedicate this story to my lovely little dance partner Kiverty because like me she is a Jacob fan… Ellen, I'm sorry he is way better than Edward, seriously I should shut up now because I will be receiving flames! GAH! Thanks! Mucho loveage! X

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Chapter One – Pressure (Preface)

I knew that this was the most stupidest, most reckless thing I had done yet. The thought made me smile. The pain was already easing, as if my body knew that Edward's voice was just seconds away…

The ocean sounded very far away, somehow farther than before, when I was on the path in the trees. I grimaced when I thought of the probable temperature of the water. But I wasn't going to let that stop me.

The wind blew stronger now; whipping the rain into eddies around me.

I stepped out to the edge keeping my eyes on the empty space in front of me. My toes felt ahead blindly caressing the edge of the rock when they encountered it. I drew in a deep breath and held it… waiting.

"Bella"

Something was wrong, my heart pounded in my chest, hearing his velvety voice now was supposed to ease my pain not intensify it. I took a few steps back from the edge, and I was violently shaking so much so I had to fall to my knees otherwise I was sure to lose my balance. Why was hearing him now bringing out this reaction in me? Before it was a comfort, it made me feel somewhat better, peaceful. How long had it been since my last hallucination? I thought back, and I remembered it was when I confronted Jacob about why he stopped being my friend, before I learned the truth about him, he was shaking in front of me trying to control himself, stop himself from phasing in that moment and possibly injuring me, Edward's voice had warned me then to keep Jake calm. I definitely wasn't like this then.

Had the hallucinations finally caught up with me, was I now finally feeling the pain they were supposed to bring me each time I imagined his voice here with me when I knew I'd never see him again, I crawled a few steps closer to the edge when I heard him again, "Bella, no" he said in a tone like a mother scolding a toddler, I heard myself let out a strangled cry and I pulled myself back from the edge I was shaking even more now. My precious hallucinations couldn't help me anymore, Edward was gone and I had to let him go, if I kept on holding on to him then I wouldn't be able to breathe anymore, how could he make me the promise that it would be as if he never existed when just the mere thought of someone so unforgettable made me feel like this?

I had been hollow for so long over someone who didn't even want me, Charlie said I was behaving as if someone had died, not left. He was right someone had died. I did. But Jacob brought me back to life again. He had made me happier in the last few months, happier than I thought I could ever be again.

I took another chance, perhaps I was overreacting, I was desperate to feel that warm comforting feeling I got whenever I heard his voice, I peered over the ledge and I saw something strange, a flame dancing on top of the water. Wait, it can't be a flame. A roll of thunder echoed around me and the clouds opened up and the rain came down on me. I didn't care, I narrowed my eyes and took a better look… no, it wasn't fire. A head rose out of the water underneath the flame red hair, it was Victoria. "Scream, Bella," Edward told me, I complied. I screamed to relieve myself of the pain his voice was bringing me and screamed out of fear. Victoria saw me now and she was smiling up at me.

"Bella!" Jacob? I turned and he came running towards me in human form with two wolves at his flanks who I knew were Paul and Embry, he sniffed the air and pulled me away from the edge and stood in front of me, he looked down at the water and saw Victoria for himself I saw her smile fade when she saw Jacob and she started swimming away, he turned to Paul and Embry and pointed down at the water "After her!" he yelled, Paul and Embry ran off and immediately followed Jacob's orders, even though he wasn't the alpha.

"Bella?" Jacob took a cautious step closer to me, he saw the pained looked in my eyes, my cheeks stained with tears despite the heavy rain falling down on us, "Don't worry, Bella, the pack are tracking her down now, I swear she won't ever lay a finger on you," he promised, he took another step closer and I pulled my knees into my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

Jacob could see there was something more to my pain; he was always able to read me well. Sometimes he seemed to know me better than Edward ever did. Victoria wasn't the only thing I was afraid of. "What's wrong?" his eyes were full of fear

"He's not coming back," I choked back a sob, "he's really not coming back," I cradled myself. Jacob rushed to my side and wrapped him arms around me.

"Jesus, Bella!" he cried, "You're as cold as ice! Look at you you're shivering, let's get you home you're going to catch pneumonia out here"

I didn't care, I didn't want to move, because Jacob was here now, always coming when I needed him, my sunshine. I clung to him and looked up at his face; the rain was running off his eyebrows and he was blinking with every droplet that fell into his eyes. He was beautiful, not like my stone god, but in his own way, and he was good for me, he would always be there for me if I needed him and I was not being fair to him, I knew that.

I thought about Juliet, what if Romeo changed his mind and just left without marrying her. I'd know all too well how Juliet would feel. Like me she wouldn't be able to move on, even in her old age it will always be Romeo's face she saw when she closed her eyes. But eventually would she have accepted that? I was beginning to. And what if her betrothed Paris had also been her best friend? The one person she could talk to about anything, who knew her better than she sometimes seemed to know herself, someone who had pulled her out of her reverie and helped her feel halfway human again. What if Paris was patient and kind and looked after her and Juliet knew that without him she'll fall apart. What if Paris truly loved her and wanted her to be happy. And what if she loved Paris too? Nothing like Romeo of course, but enough that she wanted him to be happy too. If Romeo was never coming back would it matter if finally, she moved on?

Jacob's face was so close to mine and he was warming me with each breath he took, I could barely feel the rain anymore with his warm arms around me.

Could I do it though? Could I learn to forget? No that was impossible, but could I learn to love another? Apart from my departed prince I already loved Jacob more than anyone else, could I one day see my Paris become my Romeo?

Without realising it I had inched closer to Jacob's face, his eyes were studying me, "I don't want to be broken anymore," I whispered

"Please tell me what I can do to make it stop," he pleaded with me, "I've tried so hard and I don't know what to do anymore, Bella. I can't bear seeing you this way,"

Jacob had already filled part of the gaping hole in my chest, he had helped ease away some of the unbearable pain, what if I gave it more time, could I learn to be happy again? Does time heal all wounds as they say?

My breaths became heavier as I realised I had pressed myself even closer to Jacob, our foreheads were touching and his eyes were closed I felt him place his large, rough hand on the side of my cheek, I could almost feel how much he wanted me. I placed my own hand on top of his to keep his warm touch on me. Was this right? I had raised my chin and our lips were almost touching now. I was so hesitant, I felt like I was betraying _him_, like I was betraying myself. Jacob shuddered even though he doesn't feel the cold, even now through this stormy weather he was shirtless and he was still hot to the touch.

Edward left me, he said he didn't want me anymore, said I wasn't good for him. And here was Jacob, right here in front of me, in love with me, why shouldn't I give him what's left of my heart, it was left broken and Jacob was the one who had half put it back together.

Jacob made the move and I didn't stop him, he finally made the decision for me his lips found mine and my mouth began to move with his in ways they never had before.

He wasn't gentle with me the way Edward use to be, Jacob was passionate, suddenly my heart expanded and I didn't want him to stop, and he showed no signs of slowing. I didn't quite feel the despair anymore, I was still hurting but suddenly it felt like one day, things could be okay again.

A few minutes later he slowed, "I've wanted to do that for so long," he said with eyes still closed and he kissed me tenderly once more. Finally our eyes were open and we gazed at each other for a long time, it was like I was finally seeing Jacob for the first time. Finally I saw the extent of his feelings for me and realised the extent of my own feelings for him, and they were stronger than I could have possibly thought, Edward had been clouding my head for so long I never realised that I was in love with Jacob too. When did that happen?

"Come on," he said in his husky voice, "let's get you home," in his agile way he climbed to his feet and held out his hand for me and helped me up. With our arms wrapped around each others waists he led me back to my truck and drove us back to his home.


	2. Imprint

**A/n: **My Theory:If Edward never came back, and Jacob and Bella lived out their lives the natural way, Bella is then the only possible being destined for Jacob's imprinting since there would be no Renesmee. That one act of Bella jumping off that cliff completely changed their destinies.  
Anyway enough of that, I've always wanted to give Jacob his happy ending which is why I wrote this story. I hope many of you agree and like my story. Please read and review. Enjoy!

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Chapter Two – Imprint

"Let me get you some dry clothes or something," Jacob mumbled, he lead me into his living room and sat me down on the lumpy couch he hesitated for a few seconds, looking at me as if he was trying to figure something out but then he leaned in and kissed my cheek and headed for his bedroom, when he returned he was wearing a new pair of sweats and he had carried with him some grey sweats and a black hoodie, "Put these on" he said, "They'll be too big but you'll freeze in your own clothes, your soaked through," he turned away to start the fire letting me get changed without watching, I respected that.

When I was changed I took my pile of wet clothes across the room to lay them out in front of the fire to dry, but Jacob took the pile from me, "Let me do that," he said and arranged them out, when he finished he took my hand and led me back to the couch, he sat down and pulled me down with him and we curled up together. I suddenly felt very tired. So I closed my eyes I felt Jacob lightly stroking my hair and I felt more content than I had in months.

If me and Jacob were going to work I was going to have to tell him everything, the reasons behind my recklessness and why I was stood on top of the cliff today, what I intended to do. And I knew Jacob wouldn't judge me, he'd help me through my troubles as he always had.

"Bella?" he whispered,

"Mmm?" I replied half asleep

"Are you awake?" he asked

"Mmm," I agreed,

"Do we need to talk?" he asked, "I mean back on the cliff, was I out of line? I didn't want to do anything I shouldn't have it just… I…" he struggled to finish his sentence, but I lifted my head to look into his eyes, my tiredness was washed away for now, "I'll probably regret it later because I know you don't feel the same way about me as I do for you, and I get it, I just don't want you to feel like I forced myself on you," I silenced him with a quick kiss on the lips, his eyes were clearly trying to comprehend my actions

"We do need to talk," I agreed,

He sighed, "I thought it might be like that,"

"No, you don't understand, Jacob," I looked down at his hand resting in my lap and I linked my fingers through his, "I've not been… myself, in a really long time," I said quietly I looked back up at Jake who was watching me intently, "But you've been helping me a lot more than you know, a lot more than even I knew,"

"I just want you to be happy again Bella," Jacob said

"I know," I smiled, "I know you do,"

"I can't stand seeing what he's put you through and what he's still putting you through, you can do so much better than that Bella," he said

"Up on the cliff today… I saw the way my life had gone and it scared me, I realise that he's never coming back for me and in that second I knew that I finally have to let go. If I keep holding on to him as tight as I have been I won't be able to survive much longer,"

"Hold onto him? Weren't you trying to forget?" Jacob asked, "You said it hurt too much to think about them,"

"It does…" I said quietly, "But the real reason I was on a self destruct mission with the bikes and the cliff diving…" was I really about to admit my insanity?

"Self destruct?" Jacob choked out, "Bella, what was you trying to achieve?"

"I was hearing… things, whenever I did something dangerous, whenever the adrenaline rush…"

"What did you hear?" Jacob asked

"I could hear _him_," I said, "talking to me as if he was right by my side," I could feel Jacob vibrating next to me, "Jake, take it easy," I kissed his hand, the one that was linked through mine,

"Sorry," he said stiffly, I could feel him purposely tense his body, after a few moments his shaking slowed to a stop "Go on,"

"Hearing him never caused me any pain, not like the nightmares did, he was always there but always out of reach," I continued, "instead hearing him eased my pain, up until today anyway,"

"What changed?" he asked

"Honestly? I don't know, suddenly hearing him brought me more pain than ever,"

I saw a flash in his eyes as he realised something, "Bella? What were you doing up on that cliff today?" he asked sitting up his eyes wild with fear, "You were about to jump from the top, without me there, weren't you?"

"For the adrenaline rush," I murmured, "I knew I was supposed to wait for you but I couldn't I just had to…"

Again I could feel Jacob's muscles tensing trying to control himself so I stopped, "Perhaps your subconscious was telling you to move on," he said deciding not to dwell on what I said, I could tell it had upset him.

"Maybe," I said

"I know you love him," he said, he felt me flinch, "it's obvious that you do, but Bella, he's not healthy for you, look at yourself, please don't take this the wrong way but you're acting like a junkie,"

"I know," I broke into a sob,

"Hey, hey," Jacob cradled me, "please don't cry I'm sorry okay, I won't mention it anymore more,"

I pulled my head away, "That's not it," I wiped my tears, "today on the cliff," I started, "I think I found my rehab,"

Jacob sat up, "What?" he asked

"I've never realised before because I was too blind to see it," I said softly, "but I love you too, Jacob,"

"Yeah, as my friend right, not as much as him," Jacob wasn't believing what he was hearing, I couldn't blame him after everything, after how I've behaved

"More than my friend," I couldn't agree that I loved him more than Edward, but I definitely felt a lot more than friendship for him, I pulled his head closer to me and looked into his eyes, "I'm in love with you too, Jacob,"

"Please Bella, I know you've felt guilty about our feelings not being the same, believe me I can handle that, I'll be whatever you want me to be, just don't give me false hopes,_ that _I don't think I could handle,"

"I'm not saying these things out of guilt," I told him, I hoped he could see my sincerity, "Truly Jacob, I'm in love with you,"

"What about… him?" he swallowed hard

I couldn't speak, my feelings for Edward were still there but I had to get passed them if I wanted to be semi happy with Jacob, "I'm not sure yet," I replied finally, "but you're here, you've always been here for me and you promised you always will be here,"

"Of course I will, Bella, you know that. You don't have to do this for me; I'd rather be your friend than not be in your life at all,"

"Jacob, just kiss me," I told him

He watched my face a few seconds trying to decide how serious I was, I met his gaze to show him I was being serious, then finally he pulled me into him and he kissed me hard, I responded with the same hunger he held for me and again I was shocked by how much I wanted Jacob, how had I not realised the intensity of it before now? It wasn't the same intensity I felt with Edward though, with Jacob it was more natural, I needed him like I needed air, like I needed the sun.

"Is this really what you want?" Jacob asked me a while later, "I'll understand if you don't,"

"Yes," I whispered, "I have to go on with my life, and I want it to be with you,"

"Really?" he asked

"Really," I told him, but something was bugging me, "But there is one thing I need to ask you," I said

"What?"

"You know the imprint thing?" I asked

"Yeah?"

"What if you find your mate that way and leave me? Will you promise to always be my friend then? I need you in my life, Jacob,"

"Bella," Jacob sat up to look me in the eyes, "You are the object of my imprint, I don't see anyone else, I can't see their faces, all I see is you,"

"I am?"

"You always were, I just never told you before because I could see you didn't want that, it's why I had to push you away at first," he explained, "Whoever we imprint with, well were allowed to let them in on the secret, but you Bella, they told me not to because of your ties to the…" he stopped just before saying their name, "But I couldn't abandon you, not after making you that promise, or because of the way I feel about you," he kissed me again and then we curled up together on the couch I felt more relaxed now, I remembered what Jacob told me about the imprinting, he said it was hard to resist that level of adoration. He was right. "The wolf is whatever his object of imprint needs him to be, whether a friend or lover or both, it's his job to make her happy." He explained, "You don't need me to be just your friend anymore Bella, you want to feel loved again and that's what I'm here for,"

We lay in a comfortable silence for a while and then we heard the front door open and close. Billy Black was wheeled into the living room by Sam Uley. There was no mistaking the looks on their faces something bad had happened, both Jacob and I sat up straight

"What's wrong?" Jacob asked

"Harry Clearwater died this afternoon," Sam said,

"Oh my god," Jacob gasped, "The heart attack?" he asked, Sam and Billy nodded. I suddenly felt so very selfish, Harry Clearwater was sick and I was about to pull a stupid prank like jumping of that cliff earlier, why hadn't Jacob said anything? "Dad, are you okay?" Jacob asked

"I'm so sorry," I whispered

"It's going to be hard all round," Billy nodded

"Where's Charlie?" I asked

"He's still at the hospital with Sue. There are a lot of… arrangements to be made," Billy said and wheeled himself through to the kitchen.

"I'd better get back there," Sam mumbled and turned to leave but then turned back, "The female got away again," he told us, "Jared, Paul and Embry are keeping watch," then he walked out the door. So Victoria was still loose? A shudder went down my spine; I had faith that the pack wouldn't let her get to me, the object of a brother's imprint.

"I guess I should take you home," Jacob turned to me, "you should be there for Charlie when he gets back,"

"Are you okay?" I asked him

He nodded, "I'll be fine, worry about you for a change, Bella," he took my hand and we went out into my truck and he drove me home.


	3. Rest

A/n: Wow, thanks for the reviews guys, I'm glad I'm not the only one who prefers Jacob over Edward, but I've had one or two saying that Bella was never Jacob's imprint and that he was horrible to Bella in Eclipse. Here is my reply to that - 1. I think some people need to understand the concept of FAN FICTION this is my alternative version to the book. 2. I explained my imprint theory in my note in chapter two. And 3. If you were Jacob and were so hopelessly in love with Bella and she had just told you she was about to become the thing you hated most in this world what would you do? He acted like a jerk sure, but he was so desperate to keep her he tried anything he could think of. Love makes you do the crazy.

Anyways I've said my piece. For those of you that are enjoying this please continue to submit those fantastic reviews, I love to hear what you think! Mucho Love. Enjoy!

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Chapter Three – Rest

"Jake you look so tired, why don't you come in and take a nap?" I asked him after he'd walked me to my door,

"I'm going to keep patrolling around here, I'm not going to let her anywhere near you, Bella, I swear" he touched my cheek lovingly

"You're going to get yourself hurt if you don't get enough sleep, please put my mind at ease," I pleaded with him

"What did I tell you?" Jacob laughed, "Stop worrying about me, it's my job to worry about you. I can look after myself," he said and then he didn't act quickly enough to hold back a yawn

"Aha!" I cried, "See!" I pointed at his mouth, "Please, Jake?"

"Okay, okay!" Jacob gave in and followed me into the kitchen

"Would you like a drink or something?" I asked

"Sure, what have you got?" he asked

"We have water…" I opened a couple of the cupboards, great, "Or water?" I smiled apologetically

"Water sounds great," Jacob grinned, the phone rang then and Jacob was the closest to it so he picked it up, "Swan residence," he said, "err yeah she's just here, I'll get her…" Jacob then pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the receiver and hung the phone back up with a confused expression

"Who was that?" I asked handing him a glass of water

"A girl asked if you were here and then hung up," he shrugged,

I picked up the phone and hit redial but the number wasn't recognised I watched as Jacob drank back his water in one go and put the glass back down on the table then he wrapped his arms around me, "You have no idea how happy you've made me, Bella," he whispered, I smiled, that was what's important here, I wanted Jacob to be happy. He deserved it.

I heard Charlie coming through the door and he walked into the kitchen. He saw Jacob and I in our pretty intimate embrace, on a normal day he would have taken more notice of this and it would have thrilled him but today he was grieving his friend, "Hey kids," he sighed, I turned to face my dad, Jake's arms were still wrapped around my waist his chin rested on my shoulder

"How're Sue and everyone?" Jacob asked

"Not too good, Jake, not too good," he replied and then he eyed the way Jacob was holding me but didn't mention it.

"How are you?" I asked him

"Been better," he replied, "I'm going back down to La Push tonight, crashing on Sue's couch she doesn't want to be alone at the minute, Bells. She's going to need all the support she can get, you okay with that?"

I nodded, "Of course, I'll be okay here," I told him,

"Good, I'm just going to pack a bag" he headed upstairs to grab some stuff and Jacob and I hung around in the kitchen a while until Charlie came back down carrying a small duffel bag. "I'll be back in the morning,"

"Okay dad, give them my sympathies,"

"Sure thing," he left the house again leaving Jake and I alone.

"Come on," I turned to Jake and took his hand, "Let's get some sleep,"

"Bella, I don't know I've got stuff to do…" I placed a finger on his lips,

"No, you don't" I said, "You have to rest, you're not a machine, Jake, when was the last time you slept?" I could see him try to figure out the answer to my question, "That's long enough," I answered before he could reply,

I led him up to my room and automatically I headed over to my window and opened it as wide as it will go like I did every night I was about to turn to go to bed when I realised the reason behind the open window, I left it open for _him_ every night in case he changed his mind and came back to me, well he wasn't coming back so I closed it again.

"Are you okay?" Jacob asked, he was still stood at the door, I nodded and pulled off my shoes, I climbed into bed and gestured for Jacob to come join me, but he didn't budge.

"Please stay with me," I asked him

He looked torn, "I can't" he whispered

"Please?" I begged him

"Bella, do you know how much I want all this?" he said, "I'd love to lie here with you, but you've had a rough day today, if you wake up tomorrow and change your mind, I don't…"

"Jacob, I need you," I whispered, "Just hold me,"

He sighed and took of his sneakers, he joined me in bed and wrapped his arms around me, "I don't want to sleep," he whispered to me

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to wake up and find this to be just a dream," he said, "It doesn't seem real,"

"It's real," I promised him and buried myself into him and he had no choice but to wrap his arms around me. It didn't take long before I could hear Jake's deep even breathing and I knew he was asleep. His light snores brought me comfort and helped ease me into sleep.

In my dream Jacob and I were sat on our tree on the La Push beach holding hands looking out at the waves of the ocean.

"Bella?" we both turned at the sound of his velvety voice, Edward was stood there with an agonised look on his face seeing me and Jacob together, we weren't on the beach anymore we were stood in the middle of a forest,

"Bella, what are you doing?" he asked

"You left me," I told him

"I know, I'm sorry," he said, "But I'm back now, I still love you Bella,"

I turned to face Jacob, "Go to him," he said, "I understand," his eyes were of tears, I shook my head at him.

"No, I'm with you now," I told him and I looked up at Edward, "I'm with Jacob now,"

When I opened my eyes I was looking into Jacob's eyes, "Did you know you talk in your sleep," he smiled

"I've been made aware," I said, "Did I say anything embarrassing?" I asked him hoping I didn't scream or call out for Edward like normal.

"No," he smiled at me, "You murmured my name a lot,"

"I did?"

He nodded and I noticed his face trying to hide a slight grimace, "You mentioned his name though too," then his smile returned, "Although you did say that you were with me now,"

I remembered my dream then and remembered how easy it was to dismiss Edward in my dream, it was scary. Edward was such a huge part of my life and I will always love him, but to dismiss him? No, I didn't have that kind of strength yet. Was the dream trying to tell me that I already love Jacob so much I'd stay with him over Edward? No, I knew it was too soon to feel like that too. But I wasn't heartless, it would break me to leave Jacob now just because Edward came back it wouldn't be fair on Jacob, but I knew if Edward came back now without i doubt I'll choose him, but I couldn't cause Jacob heartache like that, I knew all too well how that felt. But Edward wasn't coming back, he didn't want me anymore. I was finally healing.

"Charlie's back," Jacob said quietly, "I should go,"

I pulled tighter to Jacob, "No," I said, "I don't care, please just stay with me,"

Jacob looked uncomfortable "I don't want to make Charlie angry, today especially,"

"You won't," I promised him, "Come on let's go downstairs,"

When we got downstairs we entered the kitchen hand in hand and saw Charlie sat at the kitchen table his face was pale like he hadn't had enough sleep.

"Charlie? Are you okay?" Jacob asked

My dad looked up at us from where he sat and saw our hands joined, "Have you been here all night Jake?" he asked

Jacob looked to me for his answer but I spoke it for him, "Yes, he has," I told him, "but not like that," I promised him when I saw him eyeing us and then realising we had both come down together from my room, Charlie looked relieved just at the thought of not having to even ask the question

"So you two, huh?" he said, "Gotta admit I saw it coming,"  
"I'm sorry Charlie, I know the timing is terrible, we didn't want to mention it just yet. I wanted to ask you if it was okay first, but it just sort of happened... well _it _didn't happen but Bella and I..." Jacob rambled, he sounded nervous, I placed a hand on his shoulder to ease him, he stopped talking and looked at me apologetically

Charlie just smiled at Jacob, "I couldn't ask for anyone better to look after my daughter," he said softly, "I was wondering why it didn't happen sooner,"

"Thanks Charlie," he said, "I'll look after her, I promise,"

"You already have been, Jacob, and I really appreciate it," Charlie replied

Jacob then he turned to me, "I better get going home," he murmured, "see how Billy's doing,"

I nodded, "Okay, I'll walk you to the door,"

"See you later, Charlie," Jacob called as we walked out of the kitchen

"Take it easy, Jake," Charlie called back

I opened the front door and Jacob pulled me into a tight embrace, and kissed my forehead, "I just want you to know," he whispered so Charlie wouldn't hear, "Even though we didn't do anything, spending last night with you with the best night of my life,"

In all honesty I couldn't agree with him, I've had better nights, but I wouldn't lie to him, "It was really good for me too," I said,

He shared a half smile with me and then leaned in to share a quick kiss then gave me a quick wink before speeding out of the house. I closed the door and went back into the kitchen to join Charlie; I expected he'd want to talk about Jacob.

"You look happier," was the first thing he said to me

"I'm getting there," I said, I wasn't completely happy yet, there was still a big part of me that cried out for Edward.

"Jacob's a great guy, he'll look after you. I'm glad you two finally got it together," Charlie said, I just smiled, then the subject was changed, "It's Harry's funeral today," he said, "They want to keep it small but now you and Jake are together I'll bet he'll want you there, are you going?" he asked

I nodded, "Sure,"

Later I was in my room, looking for suitable black clothes for the funeral, I was sure I had a black dress but I could have been thinking of one I had when I was about 14 that I grew out of, I sighed and pulled together black pants and a black button down shirt. I had a strange feeling that someone was watching me, a shudder ran down my spine and I moved to the window and took a look around, Victoria? No if it were her I'd be dead already. I stepped away from my window and grabbed my jacket and headed down stairs to join Charlie who was waiting for me in his black suit and tie. "You ready Bells?" he asked

I nodded, "Come on, let's go,"


	4. Funeral

A/n: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm posting this chapter a little sooner than I planned to because 1. I decided to show my friend Greg this story and he's bugging me to update (even though he keeps calling me a nerd! :-P) and 2. I recieved an impressive amount of reviews from my third chapter and I would like to show my thanks for that.

So here is chapter four. Enjoy! x

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Chapter four – Funeral

Everyone was gathered around Harry's coffin at the cemetery, as we got nearer Charlie went and stood next to Billy and I stood at Jacob's side and took his hand in mine and I gave his hand a gentle squeeze to comfort him.

There was a small group of people gathered here today including the whole Pack. I saw Quil Ateara, and he was looking at his old friends Jacob and Embry with longing and fear, I realised then he must still believe that they were part of 'Sam's Cult' I made a mental note to go over to him and talk to him later and tell him not to worry, I wouldn't spill the secret, but I'll put his mind at ease. I looked up at Jake and he was wearing Sam's look, it was the face I didn't like to see on him, I met eyes briefly with Quil and sent him a meaningful look he looked at our joined hands and then quickly looked away again.

I looked to Sue who had her children, Seth and Leah at either side of her, all of them crying, it broke my heart especially for Seth, he reminded me of a young Jacob.

I could feel Jacob's hands tensing around mine he was very upset, Harry had been like an uncle to him, I slipped my arm around his waist and did the best I could to comfort him. Again I had that feeling that I was being watched, at the same time I could feel Jake shaking under my touch and I wondered what the problem was, I saw him meet eyes with the rest of the pack, they were trying to control their shaking too, their faces were focused.

"What's wrong?" I said under my breath, no one else would have heard me but the members of the pack.

Jacob lowered his head and kissed my cheek and whispered his answer in my ear, "Vampire"

"Victoria?" I gasped

"No, something else,"

The pack didn't move until the funeral was over, Jacob pulled me to one side, "We're going to follow the scent, don't go anywhere on your own, just go straight to the wake with Charlie, Bella, promise me,"

I nodded, "I promise,"

"Good," he said, "We'll be back as quick as we can, I'll meet you back at the wake," he followed Sam and the others through the trees, I caught Quil watching them leave too.

"You coming, Bella?" I heard Charlie call,

I looked back at Quil who was about to take off on his own, "I'll meet you at the wake," I told him, I didn't wait for his reply, I ran and caught up to Quil

"Hey," I said

"Dangerous stuff," he said, "mingling with the enemy, I see now you and Jake are together you were allowed to join their little cult,"

"It's not like that, Quil," I said, "but… I can't tell you what it is because it's not my secret to tell,"

"Like I care, Bella, I don't want anything to do with them, if they want to be jerks then screw them," Quil was obviously hurt he was about to march off but I grabbed his arm and it was hot, as hot as Jacob's, I knew that meant his change will happen soon.

"You'll understand soon," I told him, "They're not trying to be jerks to you on purpose, Quil, they still care a lot about you, they're staying away from you to protect you,"

"You are making zero sense," Quil spat

"I know," I sighed, "But it will make sense soon,"

"You say that like I'm just going to willingly join Sam Uley and his followers," Quil said, "Not going to happen, I'm not a sheep,"

We had wandered away from everyone else now we were in the forest, and I looked around nervously, we shouldn't be in here with that unknown vampire about.

"Quil walk with me to the wake please," I said, I tugged on his arm trying to get him to come with me,

"I'm going home," Quil said and shook me off, "Leave me alone, Bella,"

"Quil, please I'm begging you," I said

"I said LEAVE ME ALONE!" Quil began convulsing,

"Quil it's happening you've got to calm down!" I warned him, "Take a few deep breaths!" I took a few quick steps back

"What's happening to me?" Quil looked at his pulsing skin with fear and then there was a ripping noise as his clothes tore and he phased for the first time right in front of me, he was big as a bear and tall as a horse with chocolate brown fur, he was growling at me.

"Quil, easy!" I warned as he growled and took a few steps towards me, "Jake!" I shouted, hoping he could hear me, "Jacob!" but before I could blink Quil was pushed away by something I could feel the pain of his yelp as the force took him away, "Jacob!" I screamed, I could hear the padding of paws behind me, a huge russet coloured wolf, it was Jacob he looked at me in confusion and panic looking around for the reason why I called him, he sniffed the air and growled

"Quil!" I cried, "He was just here with me, he phased in front of me for the first time, he was a bit out of control so I called for you but them something took him away"

Jacob's eyes were wide, he pointed at the me and then to the ground with his nose which I figured meant 'wait here' and he disappeared into the trees "Yes, we heard Quil phase in," I heard Jacob's human voice a few seconds later, I turned around and he was fastening his pants up and walking towards me, "but we had split up on that leeches trail so we couldn't help him, the next thing we knew he was gone, none of us saw what happened, did you see, Bella?" he asked, I nodded "What were you even doing out here? You promised you'll go straight to the wake,"

"I'm sorry, Jacob, I saw Quil and he was so down, I just wanted to talk to him, but he lost it on me and phased right in front of me, he was probably about to attack me but something really fast came at him and knocked him away,"

Jacob wrapped me in my arms and kissed me, "Bella, how can I protect you when you go looking for trouble?"

"I'll go back to Charlie," I promised, "Just make sure Quil's okay,"

Jacob lift his head, "Stay very still, Bella," he said, his voice was low and menacing I'd never heard him like that before,

"What is it?" I asked

"That reeking bloodsucker is nearby," he said through clenched teeth, I froze in fear

"I made you a promise to keep you safe Bella, do you trust me?" he asked and kissed me on the forehead

"Of course, with my life," I told him,  
"Good, when I tell you to run, go straight for your truck and drive straight to the wake at Sue's, okay?" I nodded, it felt like hours later when he spoke again, "Bella, run!" he whispered and I saw him phase and run into the trees, I kept my end of the deal and ran straight for my truck without looking back and just hoped the pack and Quil would be alright.


	5. Wake

A/n: I am so so so sorry for the lack of updating! I've been mega busy with work and stuff I just haven't had the chance! Thanks for you patience, here is the next chapter for you (finally_ Enjoy! x

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Chapter Five – Wake

I was a nervous wreck at the wake, I paced back and forth waiting for the boys to come back safely, it had been two hours and I hoped they were okay. Emily was feeling the same way I was, although she seemed to be able to hide her nerves a lot better than I did.

I was stood next to Charlie, not paying attention to the conversation around me, I was too busy worrying.

Emily came over and pulled me to one side, "They're going to be fine, Bella," she whispered

"How do you know that?" I asked

"Because if something happened to Sam, I would… know, besides I have faith in the pack, they know what they're doing," she smiled, it looked to me she was trying to reassure herself more than trying to reassure me.

"But they've been gone for so long," I mumbled

Emily pulled me into a quick hug, "I know" she whispered, "Don't fear Bella, just think if something happened to Jacob don't you think you'd know?"

I thought about it for a second, I don't think I would know. I was still so confused over my newly developed feelings for Jacob and I wasn't sure what they meant yet, besides I was still so hung up on Edward. Someone called Emily's name she turned to see who it was, "Don't worry so much, Bella, they'll be fine" she smiled at me, "Excuse me," she turned and walked towards whoever had called out to her.

Sue's home was over crowded and I needed some air so I stepped outside and nearly tripped over something on the doorstep; it was Seth, "Hey," I said and took a seat beside him.

"Hi," his voice was horse from crying, I didn't know what to say to the poor kid, what could I say? His father had just died and he was only 14 years old.

"I really am sorry for your loss," I told him

"Thanks," he mumbled

"I know you hardly know me and its not really my place to say this, but sometimes talking to a stranger is better, if you want to talk about anything, rant about something, just get anything off your chest then I'm here," I placed a hand on Seth's shoulder, he didn't move nor did he try to shake me off, I felt very maternal over this young boy, like a little brother I felt I should take care of.

"He made the most awesome fish fry," Seth said suddenly

I smiled, "Yes, my dad loved it,"

"I'm really going to miss that," his voice cracked, I just rubbed Seth's shoulder lightly hoping it was comforting him in some way.

"I remember once when he took me fishing, we had the best time. Then when we got home he wanted to show me how he made it, but I just wanted to go out and play with my friends," I saw tears rolling down his cheeks, "I should have stayed, I would know how to make it, and I would have spent more time with him,"

"Hey," I said softly and wrapped my arms around him, "You can't think like that, Seth, you're dad loved you,"

"Hey Seth," We both looked up to the sound of Jacob's voice, my heart missed a beat, I was so relieved to see that he was okay, "How you holding up?" he asked, Seth just shrugged, "You know where I am if you need me," Jacob said, Seth nodded.

Jake then held his hand out for me and pulled me up, "I'm just going to tell Emily everything's okay and then can we take a walk?" he asked me

"Sure," I nodded, Jacob went inside a few minutes and came back out taking my hand we said goodbye to Seth and we walked towards the beach.

"What happened?" I asked, "Did you get the vampire?" I asked

Jacob shook his head, "No such luck," he replied, "non of us even got a look at him, he was fast, we chased him hundreds of miles out before we lost his scent, but hopefully he won't be coming back, unless you've pissed off anymore vampires?"

I shook my head "Not that I know of," I said, "What about Quil? Did you find him? Is he okay?" I asked

"Quil's fine," Jacob told me, "We found him about 5 miles east of where I found you, he had been knocked unconscious, he was naked in his human form, Sam and the guys have taken him home, they're explaining what's happening to him,"

I breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank god he's okay,"

"Yeah," Jacob agreed, "Old Quil didn't expect him to change so soon, but he thinks he just may have snapped when he was talking to you earlier,"

"I didn't mean to upset him, I was just trying to help," I said feeling a little guilty

"We all know that, Bella," Jacob smiled, "And honestly, I appreciate it. I felt so bad for him, I've really missed him but he'll be okay now. How about you, are you okay?" he asked me

"Yeah," I said honestly,

"Really?" he asked, I judged his look

I sighed, "Please don't look at me like that Jacob," I said stiffly

"Like what?"

"I know that look, I've had that look before, its like you think I'm just going to take off on you," I replied

"I know you love me, as hard as I find it to believe," he smiled briefly, "but I'm not stupid, Bella, you still love him too and I'll always feel like I'm going to be second best,"

"I'm sorry about that," I whispered, "I do love you Jacob and I'm feeling stronger about that every time I'm with you, but I don't know how to rearrange my heart just yet. But believe me; I'm not going anywhere, you're stuck with me, so let me know if you get sick of me," I tried to joke, I hoped he wouldn't get sick of me

"Don't hold your breath for that," he chuckled. "So," he said, "What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked

"It's a Monday so school, spring break is now over," I replied

"Ah school," he rolled his eyes, "I can meet you after if you like, we can do something… normal for a change, you know go on a real date if you want,"

"That sounds nice," I replied and a yawn followed

"Long day huh?" he grinned, I nodded

"What about you?" I asked, "You're not sleeping enough either,"

Jacob rolled his eyes "Again with this, Bella I'll be fine don't worry about me, you kind of get used to it,"

"It's not good for you though," I replied

"I know," Jake said, "But there are more of us now" he sighed, non of them wanted Quil to share their fate, "We can divide up the patrolling duties more evenly," he said, "I won't leave you for a second though, Bella, I'm going be running around your house every night until we get Victoria,"

"Please, don't get hurt Jacob," I whispered

"Like I could," he said, "Impossible healing rate remember?"

"Vampire, remember," I pointed out

Jacob shrugged, "We exist to take them out, but that red head, she's a slippery one, but once we catch her, we'll take her down no problem,"

I yawned again and Jacob laughed, "Come on I'll get you home,"

I changed into an old pair of sweats and a baggy t-shirt to sleep in and headed to the window I looked around for Jacob I couldn't see him but I knew he was out there somewhere, "Stay safe," I warned him, hoping he would hear me.

That night my bed felt too cold without Jacob there and empty too.

I kept the window closed again that night.


	6. Date

A/n: I have to deeply apologise for taking so long to update!!! My life has been so so hectic lately and I've not gotten around to it! But I just spent last week at the UK's Eternal Twilight Convention and got to meet Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lefevre, Chaske Spencer, Tyson Houseman and Gil Birmingham! Such a great weekend and they were all awesome people! Bring on ET3 in feb wahoo!!

Chapter Six – Date

"You seem different," Angela Webb commented at lunch the next day.

"Me?" I asked, "How?"

"You've got more life in your cheeks," she said, "I'm glad to see it; I was so worried about you Bella,"

"Thanks," I said feeling a little awkward

Mike Newton came and joined our table, "Hey, how was everyone's spring break?" he asked "Anyone see any of those giant bears?"

I nearly choked on my French fry.

"Did you not hear, Mike?" Jessica Stanley said as she took a seat between Mike and Angela, "Apparently they're not giant bears, they're some kind of mutant giant wolves,"

Angela looked a little uncomfortable, she and her boyfriend Ben Cheney had encountered the pack before even I knew what they really were,

"What about you, Bella?" Mike asked, "How was your spring break?"

"I spent most of spring break down at La Push," I told him,

"That poor Jacob Black," Mike sighed, "leave the kid alone Bella, you're just getting his hopes up and dashing his dreams,"

"Jacob and I are sort of going out now," I said quietly

"Excuse me, Miss I-don't-date, when did this happen?" Jess cried, it was as if she had forgotten that she was not talking to me, but new gossip was music to her ears.

"When did what happen?" Ben asked as he took a seat on the other side of Angela and kissed her cheek  
"Bella's going out with that Quileute kid Jacob Black," Mike informed him

"Erm a couple of days ago," I mumbled, great I was the centre of attention I didn't want this.

"Wow, didn't see that one coming," Jess muttered, "Isn't he like a sophomore?" she asked

I nodded, "Yeah, but he looks a lot older, and he's very mature for his age," I stopped talking, I didn't need to defend myself

"So what do you see in him? Is he a good kisser? Is he better than Cullen?" Jess rambled off the questions and stung me with that last one, I didn't miss Angela nudge Jess in the arm.

"I'm a little uncomfortable talking about that," I said quietly

"Jacob seems really nice," Angela said, "I hope you are happy together," she smiled at me and I smiled back

"He is really nice; he looked after me after…" I trailed off, "anyway the point is, I'm happier now, I'm getting over it and Jacob's been a big part of that,"

That killed the conversation.

The rest of the day dragged, I was watching the clock waiting for it to turn to 3 o'clock so I could see Jacob again, I rushed out to my truck as soon as the bell rang and Jacob was already propped up against it holding a single red rose in his hand, his smile brightened when he saw me, "My lady," he said bowing his head and holding the flower out for me, my cheeks were burning, "Don't worry, I know you don't like people buying you things, I found this on my run on the way here," he said, "I picked it for you and I picked off the thorns"

"Thank you, Jacob," I said earnestly, "It's really sweet," I accepted the flower from him and kissed him,

"Puke boy looks jealous," Jacob chuckled, I turned my head in the direction Jake was looking and sure enough Mike Newton was heading to his car pretending not to look, "Hey Mike!" Jacob called across the lot waving at him,

"Behave you," I laughed and playfully swatted him, "Get in the tuck,"

"Yes, Ma'am," Jacob winked and climbed into the passenger side of my Chevy.

"So what do you have planned for this evening?" I asked,

"Nothing that won't embarrass you I promise," Jacob grinned,

I pulled up outside Jacob's house and we went inside, "Where's Billy?" I asked

"He's out for the evening," he said, "He and your dad are at the Clearwater's keeping Sue company,"

"Something smells good, Jake, have you been cooking?"

"Lifetime of servitude, remember?" he grinned, "It's nothing special, really, it's just an Italian dish I knew you liked so I found the recipe online, you do like Carbonara right?" he asked

I nodded, "Sounds great," I sighed, "It's nice to have someone cook for me for a change," I admitted,

"After dinner I thought we could either just stay in and watch a movie or we could go for a walk it's up to you, this evening is all for you," Jacob took my hands and kissed them both "I'm just going to finish the pasta it'll be ready in 10 minutes, make yourself at home,"

When he left me alone in the living room I took a seat on the lumpy couch and inhaled the scent of the beautiful rose Jacob had picked for me, and smiled.

I was so glad I had given Jacob this chance, he made me happier than I thought possible after everything that had happened, I hadn't yet gotten over everything but I was beginning to feel truly happy again with Jacob and I truly felt that I was in love with him, which was making it easier for me to move on.

A few minutes later Jacob returned carrying two plates, "Sorry we don't have a table or anything we just normally eat off our laps," he said,

"I know, but this is fine," I said, he handed me my plate and sat down beside me, I noticed his plate was considerably more full than mine,

"If you want any more just ask, it's just I know you don't have a huge appetite and well… I have a high metabolism," he grinned

"No, this is great, Jacob," I smiled and took a mouthful, "Wow, this is good," I commented after swallowing, "Really good,"

"Cool, how many years do I get for that?" he asked

"You're already middle aged, don't push it," I laughed

After we ate and washed the dishes we curled up together on the couch and put on the TV, it wasn't long before I heard the light snores next to me, I smiled, pleased that Jacob was getting some rest. I watched him sleeping and no longer was Sam's influence in the set of his face, he was back to the old Jacob, my Jacob. I turned the volume on the TV down and absently flicked through the channels. A few hours passed by and I had managed to doze off every now and then but I was woken by the phone ringing, I didn't want Jacob to wake up so I rushed up to get it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Bella, its Billy is Jacob there?" he asked

"He's sleeping. I didn't want to wake him,"

"Too right, that boy needs some sleep," Billy said, "If he wakes up tell him I'm staying at Sue's tonight we've all had a little bit to drink so I can't get a lift home,"

"Okay, sure," I said, "Is Charlie okay?" I asked

Billy laughed down the phone, "Yes he's fine, passed out on the couch though, I think he's had a little too much,"

"Look after him for me, Billy," I told him

"Of course," he replied, "Oh, and Bella," he said

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to thank you,"

"For what?" I asked

"For making Jacob happy, for doing the right thing, just don't hurt him," I figured Jacob must have told Billy that we were together now,

"I would never do that, Jacob is important to me," I replied

"I know," Billy said, "Okay well I'll see you later,"

"Bye," I hung the phone back on the wall and turned to see Jacob was awake watching me from the couch,

"Hey you're up," I smiled

"I can't believe you let me fall asleep," he said, "this was supposed to be our night,"

"I don't mind, you need your rest," he rolled his eyes

"Was that my dad on the phone?" he asked

"Yeah, he's stranded at Sue's tonight they've had too much to drink," I grinned

I joined Jacob back on the couch and we shared a kiss, and then something occurred to him he sat up with a smile, "I want to show you something," he smiled, he stood up and took my hand and led me to his bedroom. He picked up a carved wooden box that sat on his bedside table and pulled something out that he concealed in his fist, "Again it's a gift, but please don't go off on one, I didn't buy it I made it for you," he said, "it took a long time too, I've just been waiting for the right moment to give it to you, I was going to give it to you as a graduation present, but we're together now so I don't think I needed an excuse,"

"I'm not really that bad about the whole gift thing am I?" I felt guilty now

"Yes," he laughed "It's really hard for you to accept gifts why is that?" he asked

"I find them unnecessary," I replied, "although I don't mind the home made kind," I said making him feel a little better, he smiled and opened his palm

"I didn't make the bracelet," he said, "but I carved the charm,"

"Oh my God," I gasped, "Jacob, this is so beautiful, help me put it on,"

Jacob fastened the clasp around my wrist, it was a silver chain with a wooden charm of a wolf, it was russet colour just like Jacob's fur when he was a wolf, "You carved this?" I asked

"My dad taught me everything he knows, he's better at it than I am though,"

"I doubt that," I said, "This is perfect! Thanks Jacob, I love it,"

"I hoped you would," he smiled

Jacob lowered his head to kiss me, and I pulled him closer, his already bare chest was hot pressed up against me, but the temperature wasn't uncomfortable, it was perfect. His kissing slowed but didn't stop, in that moment something just fell into place, the moment felt right, perfect. Jacob was trembling slightly, "Easy, Jake," I whispered to calm him down

"No," he said, "It's not that,"

"Then what's wrong?" I asked

"Nothing," Jacob smiled, "Absolutely nothing,"

We both smiled and I sat down on the edge of his bed, Jacob followed me and we continued kissing, I felt Jacob's hand under my shirt pressed against my back as if we couldn't get any closer to each other, and then before I even knew what I was doing I had lifted my shirt above my head and let it drop to the floor. Jacob's eyes widened, "Bella," he said, "we don't have to do this,"

"Don't you want to?" I asked feeling slightly rejected

"No, of course I do, but don't feel like you have to," he said in his husky voice

I didn't reply, I continued to kiss him and I let him gently push me back on the bed, "I want you, Jacob," I whispered, giving him the consent he was looking for.


	7. Bliss

A/n: Thanks so much for showing me your support, I'm glad you haven't given up on me after my absence, I'll try so hard to update as quickly as I can but it may not be possible at times so I apologize in advance. Here is the next chapter for you all. Enjoy. x

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Chapter Seven - Bliss

The next morning I opened my eyes Jacob's arms were wrapped around me and I smiled, his light snores were always a comfort to me. I turned to face him and couldn't stop smiling at him. I looked up at the clock on the wall and it was nearly 10 o clock, I guess I was late for school. Strangely enough I didn't feel compelled to get up and go.

I couldn't believe how euphoric I felt, it was the first time I'd felt so completely blissful in my life, more than I had ever felt with Edward and it was Jacob, not Edward, who created this beautiful feeling for me. Edward would had never taken things this far with me he used to get squirrelly about making out and just before things got good he'd stop and mutter something about risking my life enough for one night.

Before last night I had never slept with anyone before and I knew that I had been Jacob's first too. It was... well words can't actually explain how amazing it was.

"Morning," Jacob said, I didn't realize he'd woken, his eyes were still closed but now a huge smile was spread across his face, his arms pulled me closer to him, we held each other close I could feel his hot, bare skin next to mine.

"Morning," I replied

"How are you?" he asked, he opened his eyes now, his face was more serious now, as if he actually needed to know if I was okay

"I'm good," I smiled, he looked like he needed some reassuring though, "Great actually," I added

Jacob smiled, "Good,"

"And you?" I asked

"Do you even have to ask?" he grinned wider, he moved his head closer for a kiss, "I don't think I've ever been happier" he whispered

"I feel the same way," I replied as a whisper too

"Last night, Bella, it was... perfect, now _that_ was the best night I've ever had" Jacob murmured, "I mean I know I've never... done that before but was it okay? For you I mean,"

I smiled, Jacob was worried that he didn't please me, "Jacob," I sighed, "it _was_ perfect, and_ you_ were perfect"

Jacob smiled again, "Was it your best night ever?" he asked

This time I didn't need to lie, I smiled, "It was my best night ever,"

He pushed my hair back off the side of my face and kissed me, he lowered his lips onto my throat and continued kissing, I was disappointed when he stopped, he looked up and his face changed, "Crap" he muttered, and threw the duvet off and started pulling clothes on

"What's wrong, Jake?" I asked

"Just stay here, okay?" he said, "I'll take care of it," then he winked at me and left the room, I heard the reason behind Jacob's exit, Billy was home and Jacob must have sensed him coming.

"Good Morning Jacob, not gone to school today?" I heard Billy ask, his voice sounded muffled through the walls but the walls were thin, I could hear everything.

"No," he replied, "Had a late one last night, I'm going back to bed to get some sleep,"

"Okay," Billy replied unconvinced, "And what about Bella? Has she gone to school today?" he asked

"I guess so," Jacob replied nonchalantly

"So um... why is her truck still parked out front?" Billy asked with an amused tone

"I gave her a ride home last night on the back of my bike," Jacob replied quickly, "Her truck broke down, so I told her to keep it here and I'll take a look at it for her,"

"Smooth," Billy said, "Just don't let Charlie find out otherwise he'll castrate you, its lucky Sue dropped me off this morning and not him. Just be careful with her Jacob, she's my best friends daughter, the chief of police's daughter"

"Thanks for the support Dad," Jacob muttered, I heard a lot of moving around before Jacob returned with a tray with two glasses of orange juice and a plate of muffins. "Voila," he announced on entry, "Homemade muffins, made by... well Emily made them yesterday, I just watched," he grinned

"Your dad knows?" I was mortified, not over what Jacob and I had done, I just didn't feel like it should be anyone's business but ours especially when that person is best friends with my dad

"Yeah, sorry about that," Jacob said, "He won't tell Charlie if that's what you're thinking, things are a little bit different in a father, son relationship," he shrugged and balanced the tray on his bedside table and stripped back down to his underwear and climbed back under the sheets with me and passed me my glass of orange juice, I was more thirsty than I thought it didn't take long for me to chug it down. Jacob laughed and put the empty glass back on the tray for me then handed me a muffin and began munching on his own.

We spent the best part of the morning in bed just talking about everything, we excluded talk about wolves and vampires, we just talked more about ourselves getting to know each other better, it wasn't a surprise to me that Jacob knew me so well already, I felt a little guilty for not taking as much notice in him but he didn't seem to mind, he enjoyed talking to me.

It was when Billy knocked on the door pretending not to know I was there and told Jacob that he was going out, that reminded me I had to get back to reality, after he left I used the shower and got dressed and met Jacob in the kitchen who was making us sandwiches for lunch he'd just plated the sandwiches up when he groaned and looked at me apologetically, the front door burst open and Quil and Embry had let themselves in.

"Oh PB and J, thanks Jake," Quil said stealing a sandwich from his plate, "Hey Bella," he smiled at me,

"Hey," I replied,

"I wanted to apologize for the other day," he said, "I'm sorry about that,"

"Don't worry about it you couldn't help it, I understand," I told him,

"I know but I could have hurt you, Bella, I'm glad something knocked me out the way," he said, "And I also wanted to thank you, I know you were trying to help me," he smiled

"Are you settling into it okay?" I asked him

He nodded, "Yes! I love it," I noticed Jacob and Embry roll their eyes, "Best thing is finally knowing the big secret and getting to hang with my boys again," he smiled

"We tried to get rid of him," Embry said, "It's just the freak keeps following, he's just a charity case"

"Call, you are so not funny!" Quil threw a butter knife at his head but Embry caught it barely inches away from his face,

"Don't try to play a player!" he smirked

"What does that even mean?" Jacob laughed, Quil and I joined in

Embry just shrugged "So, you guys ditching school today?" he grinned at us

"And you two aren't?" Jacob countered

"Hey, we were on duty last night covering for your sorry ass," Quil replied, "we're tired from being up all night, so why are you two so tired?" he grinned at us, my face must have burned a dark red because both Quil and Embry laughed

"Knock it off, guys," Jacob warned them

"Okay, we'll find out as soon as Jacob phases anyway," Quil wriggled his eyebrows at me and I cringed

Jacob lowered his head and spoke into my ear, "I'll do my best not to think of it when I'm phased" he promised me and then kissed my cheek, he made me feel light headed now whenever he touched me, I was still reeling from the fact that I was no longer a virgin and Jacob and I slept together last night.

"Anything to report from last night?" Jacob said interrupting my thoughts

"What?" I asked shocked

The boys held back laughter, "I'm talking to these two," Jacob grinned, "asking about their patrol,"

"Oh," I mumbled

"Unless you _do_ have something to report?" Quil asked

"No," I snapped

Quil and Embry started laughing again.

"Okay guys, can it," Jacob said, "Serious time now, anything I need to know?"

"No sign of our visitors if that's what you mean," Embry replied, "Not Red nor our mystery male," I didn't miss the meaningful glance he shot at Jacob, what was that about?

"Well if he had any sense he was just passing through but as for _Victoria,_" he spat the name, "she'll be back, count on it,"  
"And we'll be ready," Quil added

Jacob must have seen the look on my face, the thought of Victoria chilled me to the bone, why was she still after me? Edward and I were long over, she must have concluded that by now, regardless she scared me and I hoped the pack were able to protect themselves and not put themselves in danger for my sake, "Bella, stop worrying so much," Jacob ran his fingers through my hair, "We'll be okay, it's what we were made to do,"

"I know, but I've seen vampires in action before, they're so strong Jacob, I'm just scared for you all, and she's here because of me, if anything happened to any of you..." Jacob pinched my lips together lightly to shut me up.

"Nothing is going to happen to us, she is 1 vampire, we are 6 wolves, we can handle it, she just values her life too much, the second we get close she runs away, eventually we'll get her and we'll destroy her,"


	8. Bitter

A/n: Hey! Thanks you guys I'm loving your awesome reviews see I told you I'm going to try my best to update as fast as possible for you! Okay especially for you here is chapter 8 of Eternal Sunshine. Enjoy x

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Chapter Eight – Bitter

"Where were you yesterday?" Jessica asked me in calculus the next day, she had snapped me out of my daydream

"Huh?" I replied,

"Yesterday?" Jessica asked, "You didn't show, did you forget we had an English paper to hand in or did you just not do it?"

"Oh no, that was done at the beginning of spring break," I replied

"Surprise, surprise," Jessica muttered, "So, were you sick or something?" she asked, "If there's a possibility of passing something to me I'd rather you wouldn't sit so close,"

I rolled my eyes, "No I wasn't sick," I smiled

"Wow, you're grinning like a Cheshire cat," she whispered now, "Oh my god! You were with Jacob weren't you?" I kept my mouth shut, "Did you sleep with him?" she asked, again I kept my mouth shut, I wasn't comfortable talking about this stuff with anyone, Jessica especially because she gossiped too much, this was none of her business, "Bella you sly dog," she grinned, "I can't believe you slept with a sophomore, was it your first time?" she kept throwing the questions at me and I refused to reply to any, "Was it his first time?"

"Look Jess, I don't talk about this stuff with anyone okay?" I said finally

"You've got to give me something, Bella!" Jess hissed, "We're girls, we talk, it's what we do, you can bet he's gossiping to all his mates about you,"

"No," I said firmly, "he's not,"

Jessica giggled, "He's a guy, a 16 year old sophomore, of course he's going to be bragging to his friends,"

"He's not like that, he loves me"

Jessica rolled her eyes, "So did you ever sleep with Edward?" she asked

I tensed up, "No," I said stiffly

"Wow," she gasped, "he messed you up big time didn't he? Even now I can see it in your face when anyone mentions him," maybe Jess was more perceptive than I gave her credit for

"I don't want to talk about it," I muttered

"How does Jacob feel about that?" she asked

"Jess, I said I don't want to talk about it," I said again

"Alright, alright," she replied

When I climbed into my truck after school there was a folded piece of paper on the passenger seat I picked it up and unfolded it, I immediately recognized the handwriting as Jacob's.

_**Sam's got me running around this afternoon, I'll come see you tonight.  
**__**I love you. Jake x**_

I smiled and put my truck into drive and headed home. When I got home Charlie was sat in the living room watching highlights from last night's game on the television. "Hey Bells," he greeted me, "how was school?" he asked

"Good thanks, how was your day?"

"Slow," he replied "Is Jake coming over tonight?"

"Maybe later," I replied, "He's out with some of his friends this afternoon," code for he's out patrolling as a wolf looking for a vampire who is out for my blood. I headed into the kitchen to make dinner.

After we ate I cleared away the dishes and did a few chores, I had been behind with them lately after spending so much time with Jacob. I ran a few loads in the washing machine and sat in the living room doing some homework. I looked at the clock and it was half past 9 and Jacob still hadn't shown so I figured he was busy and might show later. I wished Charlie goodnight and headed up to bed, I put on a long tank top over my underwear to sleep in and opened the window in case Jacob were to stop by.

A few hours later I was woken by a slight stirring behind me, I turned over and Jacob was snuggling down next to me his long legs hanging over the end of my bed, "Sorry I woke you," he whispered,

"It's okay, I wanted to wait up for you," I replied, "I guess I didn't realise how tired I was." Jacob pulled me closer to him, I glanced at the clock it was 1am "You're late,"

"Yeah sorry about that, I was hoping to come around about 9 but something came up," he said

"Victoria?" I asked

He shook his head, "No, nothing like that," he said

"Then what?"

"The pack has grown," he explained

"Who now?" I asked

"Seth Clearwater," he replied

"Poor Seth… he doesn't need this right now,"

"And… Leah Clearwater," he added

"Leah too?"

Jacob grimaced "Tell me about it, we thought it was just a guy thing, obviously not, it's not going to be easy with her around"

"Why because of the whole phasing thing and she's a girl?" I asked, Jacob had once explained to me that nakedness was an embarrassing but unavoidable part of pack life as they phased from one form to another, they were all brothers and didn't mind it so much any more but now there was a girl in their midst I could see where it could get awkward.

"Well there is that," Jacob said, "Also Leah is Sam's ex girlfriend,"

Okay that also would be a problem, "What happened?" I asked

"Well Sam loved Leah he really did, but then after he became a wolf he met her cousin, Emily and instant imprinting,"

"Emily is Leah's cousin?" I gasped, "That must be really hard for her,"

Jacob snorted, "I wouldn't feel too sorry for her, she's going to be incredibly difficult, she's being really bitter in her thoughts and thinking about things we really don't want to listen to" he said, "But I'll tell you more about that later," he kissed me and we adjusted ourselves into the same sleeping position we had the last two times we shared a bed, we didn't have to even think about it, it was as if we gravitated to those positions like we fit together perfectly.

The buzz of my alarm woke me the next morning and Jacob was already awake looking out my bedroom window, "Jake?" he turned to face me, he had his pack face on, Sam's face again, "What's wrong?" I asked

He softened his face, "Nothing," he said, "Unless there's something _you_ want to tell me?" he asked

I shrugged not understanding what he meant by that, "No." I said "Everything's fine isn't it?" I asked

"Sure, sure," he mumbled, "I'd better go," he said turning to leave, "Sam needs me this morning,"

"Jacob," I said, he turned and his face looked quite tortured, and it scared me, "Are we okay?" I asked, "Have I done something wrong?" I walked over to him and he put his arms around my waist and kissed me.

"I'll see you later, Bella," he said

"I love you, Jake" I forced a smile trying to see how he would respond

He gave me a forced half smile, "You too," and with that he turned and climbed out the window and I watch as he ran into the trees.

My smile vanished when I realised he never answered my question, had I done something wrong?


	9. Bonfire

A/n: Hey! Thanks so much for your awesome reviews, I'm truly feeling the love guys. Please keep submitting them they inspire me to update faster! Here's the next chapter for you. Enjoy x

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Chapter Nine – Bonfire

Tonight after school the plan was to go down to La Push, Billy Black was hosting a bonfire barbeque night for the pack and of course I was invited. But I was worried, Jacob's expression that morning had bothered me all day. When school had finished, there was no note from him left in my truck or no sign of him anywhere which was unusual. Something had upset him and I felt sure it was my fault somehow. There was a light accusation that I may have been hiding something from him, he'd asked me if I had something I wanted to tell him. But my mind was blank, I had no secrets from Jacob, not anymore, I trusted him completely, after all I had given myself to him.

Charlie wasn't to know about the bonfire tonight, it was a wolf thing. I wondered how Billy felt about keeping secrets from his best friend. Necessary, but secrets all the same.

When I got home from school I told Charlie I was spending the evening down in La Push, so he'd have to feed himself. I headed to my room to change and then made my way down to the reservation. I had arrived early but I'd hope to see Jacob and talk with him before everyone turned up. I turned up outside the Black's house but Jacob wasn't home the pack were out checking for any signs of danger for tonight. Emily and Sue were helping Billy prepare food for tonight's gathering, I stayed to help.

"Seems to be all clear," Jacob announced when he entered the house about an hour or so later, "Hey Bella," his smile brightened when he saw me, he jogged over to me and planted a kiss on my cheek, his mood had improved immensely since I saw him this morning, so much so that I began to wonder if I imagined his hostility.

"Hey you," I smiled "Are you okay?" I asked him

He nodded, "I am now," he whispered in my ear, then he turned to the others who were preparing the food, "Would you mind if I stole Bella away from you?" he asked them

Emily smiled, "Go ahead, Jacob,"

Jacob took my hand and led me out the house, we walked down the first beach and we finished our conversation from last night, he told me in more detail what happened between Sam, Leah and Emily and explained how Leah was being cruel to the pack in her thoughts including bringing up memories of a small scandal involving Embry, it turns out his mother wasn't a native Quileute, and the fact that he transforms in a wolf meant he had three possible fathers, Quil's father, Jacob's father or Sam's father. And all three were married at the time Embry was conceived. It bothered Jacob, he'd never been able to ask Billy about it. The pack hoped it was Sam's father since he was never around and wasn't really much of one.

I had wanted to ask Jacob what his problem was this morning but I couldn't bring myself to ask, I was afraid of the answer somehow. But Jacob and I had lost track of time we were late for the bonfire so we ran back and the gathering was in full swing.

"Nice of you to show up," Quil laughed as he and Embry approached us, "Anything to report?" he asked

"Very funny, Quil," I muttered sarcastically,  
The four of us sat around the fire, our four soon became five when Seth joined us, he looked a little better than he did when I last saw him at the wake the other day, I was impressed how he was handling everything.

I watched the pack as they ate, it never ceased to amaze me how great the dietary needs were for these boys, no wonder it took so long to prepare the food, they had to make so much for the pack alone.

"You're not getting tired already are you?" Embry asked catching me out during a yawn,

"A little," I admitted,

"You've got to stay for the best part," he said

"What part would that be? You boys devouring an entire cow... each," I laughed

"No," Jacob laughed, "That's the grand finale,"

"What then?" I asked

"For the stories of our tribe," Jacob explained, "The stories of how we came to be, it'll be Quil, Seth and Leah's first time hearing them too,"

"Well, we've heard them before," Quil said

"But you tend to pay more attention when you know they're true," Jacob grinned

"Cool," I replied

It was an amazing night, and the tribe legends were so interesting. I was tired but forced myself to stay awake for the whole thing. After Billy finished talking about the legends everyone had gathered in their smaller groups again talking amongst each other. Jacob, Quil, Embry and Seth begun talking about some new video game Embry had got for his birthday and I lost interest in that particular conversation. I rested my head against Jacob's shoulder and he automatically put his arm around me. I closed my eyes just for a second...

"Were we boring you?" someone poked my arm, my eyes shot open and Embry and Quil were laughing, I noticed that almost everyone had gone home, the Clearwater's included.

"Knock it off, Quil", Jacob said pulling me closer

"Sorry, I'm just tired," I yawned

I didn't miss the suspicious look cross Jacob's face and I begun to feel a little paranoid again, maybe I hadn't imagined the hostility after all.

"You missed the great finale, we each devoured a cow," Quil chuckled

"Oh no," I said forcing a smile, "I was looking forward to that the..." I was interrupted by a yawn, "...most,"

"We just wanted to say goodbye Bella," Embry smiled, "We're going home, Seth didn't want to wake you but he told us to tell you he said good bye,"

"Good night guys," I waved meekly at them and I dimly recalled seeing them leave after saying their goodbyes to Jacob.

I was too tired to drive home so Billy had called Charlie to explain that Jacob had given up his bed for me for the night. Although Jacob hadn't actually given up his bed, he was just sharing it. Billy was cool like that.

Jacob had to carry me to his room, I was completely dead on my feet, after all it was past midnight, I could vaguely remember him taking off my shoes and laying me down in his bed, and he wrapped his arms around me. We automatically shifted into our natural sleeping positions again.

"Sweet dreams, my Bella," I heard Jacob whisper, "I love you," I hoped I wasn't dreaming his voice, but then I heard him speak again, this time the tone of his voice had changed it was pleading, almost desperate, "Please, don't ever leave me,"

I woke up early and Jacob was still asleep beside me, I wriggled from his hold and slipped on my shoes, I would have enough time to go home and change and be in time for school today. I looked for something I could leave him a note on. I saw a torn envelope in his trash can and picked it out and grabbed a pen from his desk and scrawled my message...

_**Jake, I didn't want to wake you, I had to go home and get ready for school. I'll call you when I get in later.  
**__**Stay safe. **_

My pen hovered over the paper a few moments as I wondered how to sign the note. 'I love you'? like how Jacob would, I didn't feel completely comfortable with that yet. I decided I was totally over thinking it so I just signed my own name.

_**Bella x**_

I left my note on my pillow where he was sure to find it when he wakes. I passed Billy in the kitchen who was pouring himself a hot drink, "Morning, Bella," he greeted me, "Sneaking out?" he asked

"No, I've got school," I replied, "I left Jake a note, will you make sure he finds it?"

"Will do," Billy nodded,

"And thanks, for covering for Charlie," I muttered, it was an awkward situation

He chuckled, "No problem, I was a youngster once,"

"Later," I said and headed out to my truck


	10. Picnic

A/n: Thanks guys for the amazing reviews. Here's another chapter for you to enjoy! x

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Chapter Ten - Picnic

I hated Friday's, they go on much longer than every other day, not in the literal sense of course, but the day drags and you wait for the seemingly endless arrival of the weekend.

It would appear that I had become the week's hot topic for gossip, now that the cat was out of the bag about me and Jacob and after Jessica's prying into my sex life I had to try and ignore the whispers. I was only in my second class of the day and I wanted to go home, my desk was right next to the window, I stared out in a daydream, tuning out the droning of the teacher and the whispering and giggling of Jessica and Lauren a few seats behind me.

From this classroom I had a view of the parking lot and I could see my Chevy from here, I looked down at my notes and groaned, I had only written a sentence and the class was almost over. Something distracted me from the corner of my eye, I turned my head back out the window and Jacob was stood by my truck with a huge grin on his face he was waving me to go out to him, I could hear Jessica and Lauren's giggling intensify I looked back at them and they too had noticed him stood there, the teacher cleared his throat and glared at the giggling girls in the back row, "Is this something you'd like to share with the class?" he asked them, he looked out the window to see what they were giggling at and I saw that Jacob had ducked behind my truck before getting caught, I bit back a laugh. Mr. Phelps continued reading his lecture from the textbook and I looked back out of the window at Jacob, he was waving me out again, but luckily at that moment the bell rang signaling the end of that class. I headed out to the parking lot to meet him.

"What are you doing here?" I laughed,

"For some reason I had the strangest feeling that I had to rescue you from school today," he replied

"You are completely right and your timing is impeccable Jacob," I told him,

"Just doing my job," he said, I reached up on my toes and kissed him,

"So is that an imprint thing?" I asked, "Knowing how I'm feeling and what I need?" We once had a conversation about the wolves imprinting, apparently for the wolf, it's like gravity moves. He is whatever the object of his imprint needs him to be.

He shrugged, "Not to my knowledge. I didn't actually _know_ you needed to get out today," he admitted, laughing, "I just wanted to steal you away for the afternoon, do you mind?" he asked

"You can steal me away anytime you like," I smiled,

"Good," he replied, "It's just that I got your note this morning and I didn't want to wait until later to see you" he smile then faded "I want to spend as much time with you as possible,"

"You say that as if you're going away," I said suspiciously

Jacob shook his head and found his smile again, "I'm not going anywhere, Bella, I promise" his smile this time was a little forced and again I had the horrible feeling in my gut that something was wrong.

I wanted to get out of here, we needed to talk, "So we were in the middle of my breakout?" I hinted, he laughed and we climbed into my truck, he took the drivers side and rescued me from school.

"So what do you want to do today?" he asked me once we were on the road

"Anything," I cried, apart from that nagging feeling at the back of my mind that there was something wrong with Jacob, I was in a fantastic mood, and the weather was nice today, the sun was out for a change.

"That's good because I've got something in mind," he grinned. We drove out of town for a few miles and he finally stopped the truck on a dirt road, "I've got the whole pack out patrolling today," he said,

"Does the pack always do what you say? I thought Sam was the Alpha?" I asked

"Ah, something I forgot to mention. I'm second in command, my orders have to be followed too,"

I smiled, "Cool, so how does that work? Who decides who's in charge? I just always thought since Sam was the oldest and the first to change it automatically went to him, but you weren't the second to change,"

"It's all about lineage," Jacob explained, "Did you know that technically Sam's chief of the whole tribe now,"

"Strange laws," I agreed, "So in the last pack was it Sam's great grandfather who was the Alpha?" I was trying to understand

"No, Ephraim Black was," he said quietly

"_Your_ great grandfather?" I asked "Then if it's lineage… then wouldn't that technically make you the Alpha?"

"Yeah okay, I was supposed to be Alpha" he sighed

"Then why aren't you? Wouldn't Sam pass on the title when you changed?" I asked

"Hardly, I didn't want it. I'm no leader Bella,"

"But it's in your blood," I said,

"I don't want it," he said again, I didn't want to push him so I dropped it

"Chief Jacob," I grinned, "It has a ring to it, don't you think,"

"Only when you say it," Jacob winked at me,

"So then beta wolf, why have you got the whole pack out on patrol?" I asked

"Beta?" Jacob raised his eyebrows, amused but then his face became serious, "We can't be too careful with Victoria on the loose, but we'll be safe here," he promised me I trusted Jacob with my life, I believed him.

"Just one more question," I smiled, "Where exactly is here?" I asked

"You're not allowed to see yet," Jacob pulled a small scarf from his pocket and pulled it over my eyes and tied it at the back, "I want to surprise you," he said, "And no complaining about how you don't like surprises because I don't care, it is my official duty to surprise you,"

I laughed, today I felt so carefree that I didn't mind being surprised. The thing with Jacob was now at the back of my mind, he helped me out of the truck and took my hands and led me, this however wasn't a good idea. The uncoordinated shouldn't be blindfolded, and as if to prove my own theory my clumsy feet tripped on something, I would have fallen on my face if Jacob hadn't of caught me.

"Let's try it this way instead," he laughed and swooped me up in his arms carrying me.

A few more minutes later Jacob had settled me on the ground, I could hear the sound of water trickling, "Are you ready?" he asked, I nodded slowly and he untied my blindfold and let it fall to the ground, I gasped as I took in my surroundings, we were in the middle of a forest somewhere but we were in a small clearing that was a perfect circle and wildflowers grew all around it, there was a tiny brook through the trees. In the middle of the circle was a blanket laid out with a hamper. "What do you think?" he asked, he wore a grin that was spread from ear to ear.

I was speechless, this place was beautiful like it had been created by fairies or something. He'd planned this all out, "Wow," I breathed, it was more breath taking than the meadow that was once my sanctuary with Edward. This place was smaller, more private.

Jacob laughed, "I found this place patrolling one night, I thought you'd love it,"

"And you brought a picnic" I smiled, "You got it all worked out,"

"I try," Jacob grinned

We spread out across the blanket, with Jacob taking up most of the room, and we dug into the picnic he prepared and we talked for hours until finally the sun had begun to set. We lay on our backs looking up at the sky, hand in hand. Although I was having a fantastic time I remembered what I needed to talk to Jacob about, and then it occurred to me that he was unusually quiet again so I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, Jacob was trying to hide it but there was something he wasn't saying. I put it down to my imagination and tried to let myself be content in this place with him.

A thought too soon, Jacob's hand tensed and he shot up.

"What is it?" I asked sitting up with him, I was afraid, something was wrong.

But then Jacob relaxed and a bizarre smile crossed his face, "It's nothing, Bella," he said, "Nothing to worry about, I thought I sensed something but it was nothing," I immediately relaxed and I kissed him. But I stopped when a shiver ran down my spine, I looked around, "Bella? Are you okay?" Jacob asked

"I just have this strange… feeling," I muttered still looking around, looking through the trees trying to find the source, "I feel like we're being watched,"

Jacob's face was unreadable, "There's no one out there Bella," he said,

I laughed and ran my fingers through my hair, "My crazy imagination is running away with me again,"

Jacob found his smile again, "You can let your imagination run away with me if you like," I grinned as we lay back down, Jacob hovered himself on top of me and started kissing down my neck, across my collarbone and down to my breastbone whilst simultaneously he pushed his hand up my shirt and caressed my side with the tips of his fingers. His mouth eventually found mine again and there in our private circle we made love for the second time.

"I think that gets better every time," Jacob sighed. I smiled and stroked his face, the sun had set and the temperature had dropped, but I didn't feel the cold with Jacob wrapped around me.

"It does," I agreed, Jacob kissed me once

"I love you, Bella," he said, but there was that strange edge to his voice again, I could hear the anguish behind his words

"Why do you say that like it's a goodbye?" I asked. Jacob didn't answer me, "Jake? You're not going to leave me are you?" my voice cracked

"Never," he promised

"Then what's wrong?" I asked,

"Nothing," he murmured and kissed my forehead, "Nothing at all,"

Nothing again. I sat up and retrieved my shirt and fastened my jeans, "It's getting late," I said, "I better go home,"

"Okay," Jacob sighed, he pulled his cut off back on and led me back to my truck.


	11. Unsafe

A/n: Hello! Thanks for all your support I really do appreciate it!!! Please continue to submit those awesome reviews of yours they are truly like pieces of sunshine :-D Here's the next chapter for you. Enjoy x

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Chapter Eleven - Unsafe

Jacob had insisted staying with me on the ride home, but there was an awkward silence, he was keeping something from me and he was acting as if he was going to leave me, that thought filled me with dread. I didn't think my heart could take it, "Bella, stop the truck" Jacob said, his voice was in that low, menacing tone again, something was wrong, but the look on his face conveyed more urgency than his words did. I slammed on the breaks. We weren't too far from my house, about 100 yards away.

"What's wrong?" I whispered

"I'm not sure," Jacob muttered, "I'm getting a scent, it's strong but it's not fresh. A vampire's been around here,"

"Is it still nearby?" I asked

"I don't think so, just take it slow," he said.

When I pulled up outside my house I've never seen Jacob look so angry before, "What?" I asked

"It's been here," he growled

"Oh God, Charlie?" I gasped

"No the police cruiser isn't here and his scent isn't fresh, he wasn't here when the bloodsucker was," he assured me as we both climbed out the truck he came around and took my hand, "It'll be okay, Bella," he kissed me gently, "I promise you," I nodded slowly and we went inside the house and searched all the downstairs rooms, I picked up the phone and dialed the police station's number checking to see if Charlie was still there, he was playing Poker with his deputy he promised he'll be home soon, I hung up the telephone and met Jacob upstairs, he was in my room, "The scent is strongest in here," he said

"I didn't leave my window open" I muttered, Jacob turned his head and sure enough my window was wide open, I ran over to it and pulled it closed.

"Was it her?" I asked

He shook his head, "No," he said, "but this time there were two of them,"

"Two?" I choked

He sniffed the air a couple of times and then went down on his hands and knees, he moved forward a few spaces and stopped at the side of my bed he touched one of the floorboards and the other end of it stuck up in the air, "The scent is strongest here," Jacob said, "Did you used to hide things under your floorboards here?" he asked me

I shook my head, "No, I didn't even know that could pop out like that," I told him,

"Seems like whoever came here, came to take something that was underneath these floorboards," he looked at me, "Seriously Bella, this isn't a game I need to know what was in here"

"I didn't keep anything there! I don't know what they were after, Jacob, I swear,"

Jacob sat back on his knees and rubbed his hand on his head, "Bella, if you're protecting him still I swear to god..."

"What?" I cried, "What are you implying, Jake?"

"Are you hiding something from me?" he shouted

"No!" I yelled back, seriously what was his problem why couldn't he see I was telling him the truth, but he was definitely hiding something from me, "What are you hiding from me?" I asked

His eyes burned through mine, his face was hard, it was Sam's face now. I hated that face. "Bella," he sighed, "please just tell me the truth,"

"I am!" I cried, what the hell had got into him?

"How else can you explain it then?" Jacob yelled, "Two _random_ vampires just happen come along to your room of all rooms and take something buried under your floorboards,"

I stood over him, "You know what, Jake," I said, "I think you better leave," I opened my bedroom door for him, he met my gaze for a few seconds and then he got up and stalked out, stomped down the stairs and didn't forget to slam the door on his way out. I felt myself beginning to cry but I wiped the tears away before they had chance to fall, I was so angry, really, what was he accusing me of?

I heard the door again, that had better be him coming to apologize to me, "Bella?" no such luck, it was Charlie, I headed down the stairs and met my father in the kitchen and headed straight to the refrigerator to start dinner. "Is everything okay Bells?" he asked, "I just saw Jacob leave in a hurry, he looked upset, did you guys have a fight?"

"Yeah," I muttered

"You seem upset too," he said, "take it easy with the cupboards you'll rip off the hinges,"

"I'm sorry," I sighed, I closed the cupboard that I held open more gently and turned to face him,

"Want to talk about it?" he asked, Charlie wasn't big on the sharing but he loved Jacob like a son and was happy we were finally together

"I don't know what to say," I mumbled, "I don't even know what happened, one minute we were talking and the next he went off on one"

"What were you talking about?" Charlie asked

"It doesn't even matter," I muttered and I started dicing the chicken I had pulled out for dinner,

"Sure doesn't seem like it,"

"He thinks I'm still covering for Edward" the words rolled off my tongue

"Covering for Edward?" he repeated, his voice had raised

"That came out wrong," I muttered, "But Edward was the focus point of the argument,"

"Can you blame him?" Charlie asked, "Seriously Bella, wake up!" he said surprising me, "That poor boy is jealous, if he thinks that Edward came back you'll leave him and go running straight back to him, he's scared of loosing you._ Is_ he coming back, Bella?" he asked

"No,"

"Did you imply in anyway that he could be coming back?" he asked

"No!"

"Good, because if that boy steps one foot near you again I'll make sure that there is a court appointed restraining order to keep him away from you for good, I'm not going to let him crush you again like he did before"

"Oh god," I mumbled, it all clicked into place. The 'mystery male' vampire it was Edward, not some other vampire, he _was_ back. It would explain the weird behavior, Jacob knew it and he must have thought that I knew too and was hiding it from him. What was he doing back though, and why was he in my room, going under my floorboards? And who was the vampire he was with? "Dad could you finish dinner, I've got to go," I cried, "I need to talk to Jacob,"

"Bella?" Charlie looked at the half diced chicken

"Oh just put it in the refrigerator and order in," I grabbed my jacket and ran out to my truck and as fast as the engine could take me I headed for La Push.

"Jacob!" I banged my fist against the door of the Black's house and eventually Billy answered it

"Bella, what's wrong?" he asked

"Have you seen, Jacob?" I asked, "Or do you know where he might be?"

"No sorry, haven't seen him since this morning," he said

"Okay," I sighed and turned and ran back to my truck. I knew where Quil lived from the time I gave him a lift home I'd try there first, when I pulled up outside the house Quil pointed out was his, I knocked on the door but there was no one home, I grunted in frustration and headed back into my Chevy and headed for Sam and Emily's.

"Hello, Bella," Emily greeted me warmly, her smile faded, I guess after taking in my appearance, "What happened?" she asked

"Is Jacob here? I really need to speak with him" I asked

She shook her head, "No, I'm sorry, they're all out, they crossed a new scent this evening, I suggest you stay here and wait Bella it'll be too dangerous especially for you,"

"I'm sorry I can't do that," I cried, this time I didn't get back into my truck I ran into the forest, I could hear Emily calling after me, but I ignored her and kept running.


	12. Alice

A/n: The moment of truth! haha! Thank you guys I can't thank you enough for your kind words. I'm going to update as frequently as possibly this story is already complete on my laptop so its just a matter of getting around to posting it! Thanks again, here is the next chapter. Enjoy x x x

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Chapter Twelve – Alice

I kept running through the thick forests calling Jacob's name, I needed to talk to him desperately, no wonder he'd be acting so strange. There was no other explanation for his strange behavior. Edward was back, no wonder Jacob was acting as if he was saying goodbye, he thought I knew and was going to leave him and take off with Edward. I was a little angry at him though, he shouldn't have kept this from me. I deserved to know, Jacob and I were together now, did he have such little trust in me?

"You are going to get yourself killed!" a cold hand stopped me in my tracks,

I looked at the person stood in front of me, "Alice?" I gasped and took a step back, my first instinct was to run into her arms and tell her how much I missed her, but I couldn't do that, not now, not after everything, I loved Alice dearly but the Cullen's had brought me so much pain.

"Hello, Bella," she said, her face was apologetic

"Wha-- why?" I stuttered

"I'm sorry," she said, "I really am sorry, I didn't want you to see us here, but stupidly you had to run off and find trouble again,"

"Trouble from what?" I asked

"Victoria, she's hunting you am I right?"

I nodded dumbly, "But what are you doing here?" I asked

"I followed him," she said, "He wanted to stop by, to check on you, to see if you were safe,"

"What does he care?" I cried angrily, "he left me!"

"I know, Bella," Alice said softly, "It's just I was getting these visions of you a few days ago that scared me, you nearly jumped of a cliff, Bella! I had to check to see if you were okay" she said,

"That was you who called asking for me, Jacob answered and said someone called asking if I was okay and just hung up,"

"Yes, and ever since then my visions of you have been very fuzzy, I hardly see anything of you, you keep disappearing and it worried me, Edward picked up on my concerns and rushed here to check on you," she explained, "I followed him to make sure he kept his distance from you, but when we got here we caught the scent of Victoria we figured she was here for you, so we stayed to look for her and to kill her that was all,"

"Why had your visions of me fuzzed?" I asked

"I don't know, but I think it might have something to those big wolves that have been hunting us since we got back," she glowered at me now, "I didn't see those coming." She sounded annoyed, "I think my visions are allergic to dogs,"

"For a few days now I felt like someone's been watching me," I said

"Yes, that wasn't me, I'm afraid Edward has been keeping a very close eye on you, Bella. You do realize you're dating a werewolf don't you? They're dangerous!"

"And vampires aren't?" I cried,

"Bella, you were almost killed by one!" she exclaimed

"It was you," I whispered, "You took Quil out?"

"No," she sighed, "That wasn't me"

"You mean… that was Edward?" I gasped, I couldn't believe it, Edward had been close to me for the last few days watching me? I didn't know whether to feel overjoyed that he still cared or angry. I was leaning towards the latter.

"Yes, how could he not Bella, that wolf was out of control he was going to hurt you!" she replied

"That was Quil's first transformation, he didn't understand what happening to him and I was trying to help, the wolves have good control of themselves, I'm safer with them,"

"Doesn't look that way from where we were standing," Alice folded her tiny arms,

"It's not your concern Alice," I shouted, "All of you abandoned me!"

"We didn't want to. Edward thought it was for the best," she stopped herself as if she thought she's said too much, "He wanted to make sure you were happy,"

"So he's been spying on me and Jacob?"

"Yes, I wasn't happy about that either," she muttered, "he wanted you to move on and you did. Like I said we were only sticking around to get Victoria, but the wolves have been thwarting our attempts"

"They're tracking her too," I told her

"No, it's not just that" Alice muttered, "Jacob is trying to make sure we go nowhere near you, and they're ruining their own chances of taking out Victoria. But technically we've broken the treaty we've been tracking Victoria on their land and they think it's a valid excuse to attack us now, I've tried reasoning with them explain to them that we want the same thing, but they weren't having any of it," she said bitterly

"I'll talk to them for you," I told her, I still loved Alice I didn't want to see her hurt, "But you've got to respect the treaty,"

"Bella that doesn't matter to us if your life is in danger," Alice cried

"The wolves are protecting me,"

"But they still haven't managed to kill her yet," she muttered

"Where is he now, Alice?"

"Who Jacob or Edward?" she asked

"Jacob," I replied, I definitely couldn't handle seeing Edward especially now, "I have to talk to him, he's hurt, he thinks I knew you were back,"

"I don't know" she sighed

"Then you can't help me," I turned away to search in the opposite direction, but the moment I turned Alice was already in front of me,

"I can't let you run off while Victoria is loose, Bella," she said, "You may have moved on but I still love you like a sister, I don't want to see you hurt,"

"Then where were you months ago!?" I screamed, Alice looked hurt by my outburst, who cares? I hurt over them every single day for months, I was finally feeling whole again and they had to come back and turn my life upside down, "I was suffering so much that I could hardly breathe," I said, "Where were you then?"

"I know you're angry with us, but I'm not leaving you alone until I know you'll be safe," she said

"Speaking of safe... what were you doing in my room this afternoon?" I demanded

"I'd rather not say" she said

"What was under my floorboards?"

"You know about that?" she asked

"My boyfriend's a werewolf," I reminded her,

"I'd rather not say," she repeated

I started to walk away but she had hold of my wrist, the coldness of her skin was too much for me to handle, before it never bothered me, but I had become so used to Jacob's heat that this was now extremely uncomfortable, "Alice, let go of me," I said through gritted teeth,

"Not going to happen, Bella,"

"I'm going to back Jacob's, I'm going to wait for him there, watch out for me as I go if you must but leave me the hell alone!"

She released her hold and I ran from her, out of the woods and back to my truck I put it in drive and headed back to the Black's house.


	13. Rival

A/n: Oh my god! WOW! I am so impressed with the number of reviews that just keep pouring in so to show my thanks I've decided to post again. Two days in a row! You lucky ducks! I'm sad now that my other Twilight story "Without the Sun" is now complete so thanks to those people who have read and reviewed that and if you haven't yet... why not? Lol! After seeing the film New Moon, this story makes me even more happy because I was seriously a wreck over Jacob, my heart was broken. Again many thanks to all of you! Enjoy! x

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Chapter Thirteen – Rival

Billy opened the door, it looked like he was expecting to see me back so soon, "Come on in, Bella," he said. I followed him through to the kitchen and he started heating up some milk, "You know what always make me feel better?" he said, "A nice cup of cocoa with the tiny marshmallows," he grinned at me

I touched my cheek feeling its dampness, I hadn't realised I had been crying until then.

There was a strange but comfortable silence in the room during the time Billy was making the cocoa, but when he handed me the cup he was waiting for me to speak, I uselessly wiped away the tears that wouldn't stop and took a sip from the cocoa. It was really good, but really, really hot, it burnt my tongue. I put the cup down to let it cool.

"Jacob and I, had an argument," I said finally, Billy didn't reply, he waited for me to continue. "It would seem some of the Cullen's are back in town," I said and again I waited for Billy to speak but he still had nothing to offer. He was waiting for me to get it all out, the look he was giving me made me spill everything, "I only just found out, but Jacob already knew, I think he thought that I did too but was keeping it from him. Billy I swear I didn't know."

"How did you find out they returned?" Billy asked

"I figured out why Jacob was acting so strange around me, he found a vampire scent in my room and started accusing me of hiding things from him," I explained, "When he left I figured that the other vampire must be Edward for him to have reacted so aggressively, so I went looking for him, to explain that I honestly didn't know."

"He was angry with you?" Billy asked

"Yes," I murmured, but then something flared inside me, "Although I should be the one angry with him, he's the one who's been hiding things, he should have told me they were back, whether he thought I knew already or not,"

"Yes, I knew that wasn't such a good idea" Billy nodded

"You knew?"

"Of course, I did try and tell my son to tell you, but he didn't want them anywhere near you, he said he didn't want to see them hurt you anymore," he told me, "but of course I know my son, he just doesn't want to loose you," he said

"He's not going to loose me," I murmured, "I love Jacob, he's who I want to be with" I realised how true that was when I said it. It was Jacob I wanted, I had finally rearranged my heart and it was Jacob that I needed. Edward had taken himself out of my life and I had become sleeping beauty, but Jacob's kiss broke the spell and he healed me, Edward got his wish, I moved on.

"Oh my god," I breathed as I processed this new information. Jacob was the one I wanted, who I truly wanted, Paris had become Romeo. It was his face I saw now when I closed my eyes. Billy was smiling at me as if he knew all along, "I have to go find him,"

"Bella, don't be stupid, it's dangerous out there!" Billy cried,

I didn't care I ran out of there as fast as I could ran straight to the woodlands and started calling out for Jacob.

I don't know how far I had gone but I didn't know where I was anymore, I choked out a sob and sat down on a broken tree trunk, "Jacob" I whispered, "I need you,"

The back of my neck tingled, I felt that bizarre feeling that I was being watched again, my eyes darted around the trees.

"Bella?" my heart constricted, it was that Velvety voice, and again it brought me pain, this time there was no adrenaline rush, this was just pure fear. So why was I hearing him now? I put my hands over my ears, shut my eyes tight and shook my head

"Go away," I whispered, "don't do this to me now, go away,"

I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and I looked up, I wasn't hearing voices anymore he was here, right in front of me, I stood unable to process what I was seeing, or determine if what I was seeing was real. But I couldn't deal, he couldn't be here, shouldn't be here, not now. I stumbled backwards but tripped over the trunk behind me,

"Bella," I saw now how agonized his face was

"What are you doing here, Edward?" I demanded to know

"I needed to see you," he murmured

"No, you don't get that right anymore," I yelled, "You left me"

"I know," he said, "I thought it was the best for you, but I couldn't stay away,"

"What?" I cried

"I left to protect you from what I am, I was trying to put you first but I can't do that anymore, I still love you, Bella, I never stopped loving you"

"No, don't do this to me!" I covered my ears and closed my eyes hoping that this was just a figment of my insane imagination that had to go away. Cold hands moved mine away from my ears and I opened my eyes and was looking into two black pools.

"I know that you're with Jacob Black now," he sounded torn "That's why I was at your house today, when I left I hid your birthday presents and the photo's under your floorboards, that selfish part of me wanted to leave them with you, but when I saw you and Jacob…" he swallowed, "I wanted them back so I can have a reminder of you," he said,

"They were in my room the whole time?"

"Yes," he smiled, "I took them and realised I wasn't ready to give up on us yet." He grimaced, "And I know that you and Jacob have been… intimate together. But I can move past that, I'm begging you to take me back, I'm begging for your forgiveness,"

"Edward!" I saw Alice approach him from behind, "What are you doing, I told you to leave her alone," she shot me an apologetic glance

"I'm so sorry I didn't realise what leaving you did to you," he said to me, "I saw it in the wolves' minds, saw how they found you in the forest that day and that image will haunt me forever, Jacob's imagination was especially vivid. I'm so sorry, Bella"

"Yes, but can you see me now? I'm happy, I've finally learned to go on without you and you had to come back here and ruin everything!" I wanted to hit him, but no doubt it would do my hand some serious damage.

Edward took a step closer to me, "I am truly sorry for everything I put you through," he said, "But I need you, Bella, I love you"

"I knew it," I turned my head to the sound Jacob's voice, I climbed to my feet and rushed over to him wrapped my arms around him but he kept his arms at his side and didn't return the embrace, "Bella, don't" he said, he was wearing Sam's face again, "I knew you were keeping them from me," he said, "I knew it"

"Jake, no," I whispered

"She knew the whole time," Edward lied, "I'm here to stay, Bella and I are back together,"

"What?" I cried, "Edward, why are you lying?" I turned back to Jacob, "I swear I didn't know, please, you have to believe me," I was sobbing harder now and I failed to construct sentences anymore, Jacob was masking his hurt behind Sam's face and wouldn't meet my eyes. I dropped to my knees and for the first time in a long while that hole in my chest appeared, but for a different reason. I was scared that I might lose Jacob.

"What are you doing back here Cullen? And on our lands you know what happens if you violate the treaty," Jacob growled

I met eyes with Alice, she looked torn between siding with her brother and doing the right thing my eyes pleaded with her but she looked away.

"We were after Victoria, she's still after Bella. Are you wolves so incapable to take out one vampire?" Edward mocked

"Don't give me another reason to prove to you just how capable we are," Jacob snarled

"Is that a threat, pup?"

"You can bet your stone cold ass it is,"

Edward dismissed Jacob and stalked closer to me, "Its okay, Bella, I've come back home now, I'm so sorry for everything, I love you,"

"Don't touch her," Jacob snapped

Edward's eyes flared up at him burning with fury, "Bella, is mine," he said his voice low, "she will always be mine, I was a fool to let her go and I'm willing to offer her anything to get her to stay with me, what can you offer her?" he challenged, Edward crouched beside me, Jacob's eyes never left him, "Please forgive me, Bella," he whispered, "Anything you want, name it. If you still want to be like us I'll change you now, we could be together forever" Jacob growled at that but Edward ignored him and continued, "I don't want to be selfish, if there is anything else I could do without resorting to that I'll pay the price. But I don't know what to do without you. I'm completely useless"

Why was he doing this to me? My sobs became more violent, again Alice met my eyes and she closed them for a second before shouting "Enough!"


	14. Consequences

A/n: Aww you guys! You're making it harder and harder for me to string this story out longer! Thanks so much for your kind words making me blush hehe! I'm so impressed that for the third day in a row you are getting yet ANOTHER chapter! But don't get used to it :-P This is just a little chapter so I thought I might as well post this one out too! Lol Anyways here it is and as always Enjoy! x

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Chapter Fourteen – Consequences 

Both Jacob and Edward looked at her, "Edward, enough," she said. Alice turned to Jacob, "Bella had no idea we were here," she told him, "Edward wanted to come back just to check on her to see if she was okay and happy. I came along to make sure he left her alone but then we caught Victoria's scent and we tried to save her from us one last time," she explained. Jacob finally lowered his eyes to me, "I ran into Bella earlier and explained everything and she was looking for you to explain,"

"Alice," Edward choked

"I'm sorry Edward you wanted us to stay away from her, you wanted her to move on and be happy and she has. You can't come back and expect her to welcome you with open arms after everything we put her through"

"Why did you lie?" I asked, "If you really cared about me you'd have done the right thing,"

"I was willing to fight for you," Edward said, "Every bit as hard as Jacob has been, although you'd be disgusted by his dirty tricks,"

"I don't use dirty tricks," Jacob spat, "I don't need them, I give Bella what she wants, what she needs, I've never forced her into doing anything,"

"Oh god," I cried, I knew what they were talking about, "I had that feeling we were being watched earlier in the clearing just before we…" I looked at Jacob, "You sensed something just before that… he saw us?"

"He didn't have to stick around," Jacob muttered

"Jacob how could you do that?" I asked, "How could you just... use me like that?"

"I didn't use you, Bella. I mean... I know that's how it looks. I love you more than anything I just..." I watch him struggle with his words and didn't miss the smug grin cross Edwards face. "I'm sorry," he said finally looking into my eyes, he took my hands in his and helped me to my feet, "I was so afraid," his voice was hardly audible and I saw his face had softened, he looked so vulnerable. "I didn't want to loose you, you mean too much to me. I didn't know what else to do" he took my hand and kissed my palm, "I'm sorry for what I did. I was a grade A idiot. I should have told you and I should have believed you when you said you didn't know anything but I was so scared, Bella, I know how much Edward means to you" his voice was breaking,

"Jake..." I began

"Please let me finish. Otherwise I won't be able to finish saying what I have to say. I need you Bella. You are everything to me and I would fight for you forever, but I'm not going to and tear you in half anymore, it's my job to make you happy remember? Not to upset you. I'll be whatever you need me to be, I'll always be your friend" a tear rolled down his cheek, he turned to Edward "She's still in love with you," Jacob sighed, he looked defeated and forced at smiled for me, "I just want you to be happy, Bella," he said, "Go to him,"

Edward reached out for me, but I shied from his touch, "No," I whispered, this scene felt a little like my dream I was surprised again by how easy I found it to dismiss Edward for Jacob. I thought Edward was the love of my life, I'm glad I discovered that I was wrong, I've made my choice. "No I don't want Edward, I want you, Jacob, I love you"

"Bella," Edward's velvety voice sounded strangled,

"Edward, don't," I muttered, "You've done enough damage,"

Jacob watched me with disbelief, "But, Bella, he's who you want," he muttered trying to understand,

I shook my head, "He's who I used to want. You're who I need. I know who I can't live without,"

Relief washed through Jacob, and he pulled me into a tight embrace and kissed my forehead, "You're serious?" he asked me

"I've never been more serious," I replied, we pulled out of our embrace and I took Jake's hand back in mine where it belonged.

"You made your decision a long time ago and you've got to live with the consequences of that choice," I said to Edward, "You asked me to choose and I choose him, Edward, it'll always be him,"

"Alice," I let go of Jacob's hand, "I'll always love you like a sister," I wrapped my arms around her, she returned my embrace.

I then wrapped my arms around Edward and kissed his cheek, "I really am sorry, a part of me will always love you but I love Jacob more, he is who I'm supposed to be with, I could have never worked out between us. I could never live a normal life,"

"Bella, there's nothing more important to me than your happiness," Edward murmured, "If Jacob makes you happy then I suppose I'll have to bow out gracefully," he said but he still looked torn, I knew that this is something he'd never be able to get over and it broke my heart, but I couldn't be with him. Not when my heart belonged to another I had to be true to myself.

"Thank you," I whispered, I went back to Jacob and I threaded my arm around his waist, "Now do yourself a favour and get off these lands, keep the treaty intact,"

"Just one more thing," Edward said, "There is the matter of Victoria,"

"We'll take care of her," Jacob said

"No, she's here," he growled

We all turned to the trees to our right and saw the flame haired vampire moving towards us

"Now this has worked itself out much better than I could have hoped," she purred


	15. Victoria

A/n: Here's the thing guys. I've had this chapter typed up on my PC for a loooooooong time, and reading through your fantastic reviews this morning made me want to post it up today (4th chapter in 4 days yay!) But I opened it up on my screen and read through it to check for mistakes etc and as I was reading it and thinking back to all your reviews I was thinking "You know what. This chapter is actually pretty shitty," I knew you wouldn't be happy with it, I felt like I was cheating you out of a battle scene simply because I didn't have one so this morning I re wrote this whole chapter to please you guys. Which means I have to make amendments to some of my following chapters. So here's the deal, I'll post this today but you'll have to wait a few more days for the next chapter until I make sure I've followed it on correctly from my re-write! And I won't get chance for a few days because I'll be in London at the weekend. I hope the trouble I went to for this chapter is worth it and I really hope you like it. So please let me know your thoughts. Enjoy! x

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Chapter Fifteen – Victoria

Why had Victoria risked herself this way by approaching me when I had a werewolf and two vampires to protect me? She was all about the self preservation, it was the reason why it had been so hard for them to get her. This made no sense.

"Hello Bella," Victoria waved at me, her voice surprised me I was expecting a sound more feral and wild but her voice sounded like it should be accompanied by blonde curls and bubblegum, Jacob grasped my hand and stood in front of me, "Take it easy mutt," she grinned, "I'm not here to hurt her, you should know by now I'm not suicidal,"

"Then why are you here?" Jacob growled

"What do you want, Victoria?" Alice hissed

"My whole vendetta here is against Edward, hence the reason why I was after Bella, you know the whole eye for and eye, mate for a mate deal," she then focused her eyes on Jacob, "You know you've made my life ever so frustrating," she said, "But you've made things work out for me even better than I could have imagined," Edward's face was tormented, "As you may know when a vampire finds his mate and falls in love it becomes a permanent change," Victoria continued with her smug monologue as she did so, she tried to circle around us, but Edward didn't budge and because Edward wasn't moving Alice kept position and Jacob had no choice but to, Victoria looked miffed but Edward knew something we didn't, "But when Edward left poor Bella broken, it was the Quileute boy who picked up the pieces, but he soon discovered he could turn into a big dog and then the imprint magic kicked in and bam they're in love," Jacob looked surprised, Victoria seemed to understand his expression, "Oh I've done my research about you, Jacob Black," she smiled, "It would only make sense since you've been a constant pain in the ass to me, but what I don't understand is why you refer to yourselves as werewolves, because you clearly are not," she pointed to the moon, "it's not full tonight," she replied, "real werewolves have no control over their transformations and change under the full moon, you Quileute's change at will. Day or night. You're shape changers,"

"Get to the point," Jacob snarled

"So much anger" she giggled, "It's quite cute actually. Okay so the point I'm trying to make is… I'm leaving Bella alive, such a shame because she smells so delicious," Edward, Alice and Jacob growled, "I did say I'm leaving her alive didn't I?" she laughed,

"Why?" Alice asked suspiciously

"Revenge," she purred, "I may not be serving it myself but its better than the one I had planned, Bella doesn't want him any more and he'll live everyday of his life knowing she's happy and in love with another,"

"What makes you think we still won't kill you?" Jacob spat

"I want in on this little treaty," she said, "You leave me alone and I'll leave town, you'll never hear from me again,"

"Not going to happen," Jacob snarled, "The Cullen's don't hunt humans, you do, it is the only reason why a treaty was made. Guess you didn't do your research so well"

"Hey Victoria, I see the future," Alice told her, "You're little plan doesn't work,"

Edward and Jacob advanced on Victoria and her face fell, she bent into a crouch position ready to fight them off and then she turned her head back towards the woods for a split second, when I saw her face again she looked _scared_, her distraction gave Edward the advantage as he lunged for her, they fought but the movements were so fast I couldn't see what was happening

I wondered why Victoria had looked back, surely it was a stupid move, but then I heard my answer, the howling of the pack echoed through the trees I knew then they had her surrounded.

She lunged up into the trees knowing the wolves didn't stand a chance reaching her up there. But Edward was faster and got higher than her first. She lunged for another tree but Edward was on her tail, following her moves a split second before she made them, he was reading her mind for the moves she was going to make.

I looked to find Jacob but he was no where to be seen, he'd gone into the woods to phase. The pack sounded closer now and I could see their large forms shadowing in a circle around us now. Some of them growling at Alice, but their heads snapped quickly to the russet coloured wolf, my Jacob, and they all looked up into the trees at the same time and saw the fight between Edward and Victoria.

Edward kept Victoria trapped within the circle the wolves had made and finally managed to knock her out the trees. She landed on her feet gracefully in front of Alice and me. Victoria knew it was hopeless but she came at me anyway.

I don't know what happened but before having chance to blink I was facing the other way. I turned quickly and saw that Alice had flipped me over and stopped Victoria before she could get to me, but something was wrong. I was in pain, a lot of pain, so much so I wondered why I wasn't screaming. Alice wasn't quick enough I looked down at my hand, Victoria had sunk her teeth into me over lapping the bite James had given me last year. The pain wasn't the bite itself I knew that. It was the venom coursing through my veins, I could see the silvery colour of it under my skin. I could no longer see the fight, my vision blurred.

The pain became too over whelming, but soon I heard a sound like someone cutting through steel and I could smell something burning. My knees buckled under myself as I fell to the ground and I was then hearing strange sounds. Something between haggard breathing and screaming. I realised they were coming from me.

"Bella?" I heard Jacob's voice in the distance, and then he shouted my name louder, I could hear the panic in his voice "BELLA!" Jacob was in his human form hovering over me. "Oh God!" he cried, "She's been bitten," his voice was despairing as if I was dying

I could see the pack surrounding me their heads hung low sharing Jacob's grief. All except for Sam he too was human again, "I'm so sorry Jacob," I heard him murmur, "You know we have no choice now, you know what we have to do,"

"Don't you dare lay a finger on her!" I heard Jacob yelled at him.

The strange noises I was making were getting worse until they finally errupted into a scream, the venom was agonising. "I love you, Jake," I whimpered, where was Edward and Alice? They could save me. They could stop me from turning, it's been done before. I didn't want this life, not anymore.

Jacob was on his knees at my side "You can't say good bye Bella. I need you." He said and took my burning hand.

"Jacob do not touch her wound, the venom is lethal to us," Sam warned

"I don't care," Jacob spat, "I've got nothing to live for if I don't have Bella,"

I couldn't stop the spasms rocketing through my body

"You could learn to be like the Cullen's, Bella, live on animal blood, learn to be around humans," Jacob's eyes were filling with tears, "I wouldn't care what you are, I will still stand by you. I love you,"

Another involuntary scream, the pain was getting worse. I clenched my teeth together to try and stop further screams from coming out, I didn't want to show Jacob how much pain I was in, he was suffering enough. Where was Edward and Alice? Why weren't they helping?

"What are you two talking about?" I heard Jacob call, I knew he was talking to Edward and Alice, why were they just standing there?

"Edward you've got to do it," I now heard Alice, but Edward didn't reply

"Do what?" I heard Sam and at the same time bit back a scream

"We can stop this we can suck the venom out, it's been done before," Alice informed them, "but it's dangerous for us. We could loose ourselves, our control and could end up killing her," she explained, "It's very risky, know I wouldn't be able to do it, but Edward has done it before. He saved her once before,"

"Then get it done," Sam told him

"I don't know if I'll have the strength," I heard Edwards voice, it sounded a million miles away now. Everything began to sound like I was hearing things through cotton wool.

"Edward you have to, she doesn't want you anymore. She loves the wolf. You must find the strength, I'll be there to stop you if you loose it"

"For your sake, you better not loose it," I heard Jacob warn him

I saw through my blurred vision Edward hover over me, "I'm so sorry Bella," I heard him, "it'll be over soon,"

I couldn't see what he was doing anymore I think I was blacking out, but I could hear everything around me, "Edward you have to stop now," I could hear Alice, she was right, the venom was no longer burning away, but I could still feel Edward's cold mouth on my hand.

"You heard her bloodsucker knock it off," I heard Jacob and I was moved. I was now in somebody's arms. Warm arms, I was in Jacob's arms. Relief washed through me.

"I'm sorry," Edward mumbled, "I couldn't stop… I… thank you,"

Then finally I think I had blacked out.


	16. New

A/n: Heeeeeeeeey! I'm off to London in a mo, but I already had this chapter finished you can thank my job for being so boring for that hehe! 5th chapter in 5 days now... wow must be a new record!!! I am so pleased you loved the re-write, looks like I made a good decision after all! Thanks to my changes in the last chapter it gave me a new idea and I've added another little plot twist, which now means I've got to make amendments to every other chapter I've typed... oh yes there are quite a few more to come... perhaps, but that is down to you guys. I'll get to that later anyway, all will be revealed in the next chapter's notes. This chapter and the next chapter are completely new, written up due to the fact that I made some dramatic changes to the story! So I sincerely hope that you all enjoy reading this as much as I have writing it, or re-writing as I should say! Enjoy! x

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Chapter Sixteen - New

"Bella?"

_Jacob?_

"Oh god please be okay,"

_Why wouldn't I be okay?_

That's when it all came rushing back to me, Edward, Alice, Victoria… my hand. My eyes flew open I looked around at my surroundings and for some reason, everything seemed new.

"Oh thank God!" Jacob breathed out and pulled me up wrapping me into one of his big bear hugs

"Jake… can't… breathe," I choked out, he released me instantly with a look of fear in his eyes hoping he hadn't hurt me

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" I nodded slowly and looked at my hand, the bloody teeth marks that marred my skin, linking through the scar of James' bite.

"I will be," I rubbed my forehead hoping it'll help ease the migraine away, everything seemed so loud, so bright. I looked up at Edward, "For a while there I thought you were going to leave me go through the change," I said

"For a while I was tempted to," he admitted, Jacob stared daggers at him, "But I have to let you go, you belong to someone else now," he finished

"She doesn't belong to anybody," Jacob muttered and rose to his feet, "Bella is her own person. Need me to help you up?" he asked, I shook my head, I was dizzy but the last thing I felt right now was weak, it was strange and I couldn't explain why. I was on my feet in seconds

"Woah," I heard Jacob breathe, "Bella, what was that?" he turned to the Cullen's, "That was far too graceful for Bella, what have you done to her?"

"Nothing she should be fine," Alice said, "Edward cleaned her system of the venom,"

"But Jacob's right," Edward added, "she shouldn't have been able to get up like that,"

"Can you please stop shouting?" I groaned rubbing my forehead, "I've got a migraine coming on,"

"You heard that?" Edward's eyebrows rose,

"You were practically shouting it at me,"

"Bella, you shouldn't have been able to hear him," Jacob said, "I picked it up because of my wolf senses but he spoke so quietly, human ears wouldn't have heard him,"

My expression probably matched the confusion on their faces, I could tell the pack looked confused, even in their wolf form, "What's going on?" I asked

Alice ran further into the woods, I shouldn't have been able to make her out so clearly from where she stood, but I could "Bella, run over to me," she said

"Why?" I asked

"How are you hearing me speaking quietly from over here?" she wondered, she shook her head, "Don't argue Bella, just do it,"

I ran over to her, and I noticed the difference straight away, I was faster, not much faster nothing like the speed of the vampires or the wolves, but faster than an average human, and more agile too, running to where Alice was through the woods normally would have made me trip up several times but without even looking at everything around me I knew where the obstacles in my path were, I could sense what to avoid and how to avoid them. It was such a bizarre feeling.

"What's happening to her?" I heard Jacob ask Edward,

Alice and I made it back to the others, and Edward had pulled out his phone I could hear him speaking to Carlisle on the other end. Edward explained what happened and what was happening to me now. I heard Carlisle on the other end ask if I had any strength. I looked around for something to test my strength and saw the thick broken tree lying across the ground behind me. Alice saw what I was looking at and picked it up first as if she was just lifting a pillow above her head and placed it back on the ground for me to try. I wrapped my arms underneath it, but it was too heavy, I couldn't even budge it.

"No strength," Edward said into the phone, "Just seems to be agility, which would explain why she's a little faster and her senses are definitely heightened. But I'm positive all of the venom is out of her system. Her hand is still hurt she's not healing or anything,"

"What about her scent?" I heard Carlisle,

"It's slightly different," Edward noted,

Alice nodded, "She still smells completely human… but…"

"For some reason the scent of her blood isn't appealing to us at all," Edward finished, "Even to me,"

"The venom may be out of her system but it's coursed through her veins twice now, that may have been long enough for a change to have begun but not obviously not to be completed, the venom had begun to infect her before you saved her,"

"I think you're right," Edward said, "It's the only explanation. Thanks Carlisle," he hung up the phone, "Did all of you get that?"

We all nodded, and I rubbed my forehead again, "Will this migraine ever stop?" I asked,

"I was the same when the wolf gene first kicked in Bella," Jacob told me, "You're not used to the stronger senses yet, but you'll soon adjust," I turned to him and hoped he would still love me now I'm apparently different,

"How do I smell to you?" I asked him, I prayed my scent didn't repulse him.

"Never better," he smiled and pulled me into a hug and kissed me softly on the forehead, "I'm just so relieved you're alive," I heard the double meaning to his words, alive and alive and human, he slipped his arm around my waist as we turned to face the Cullen's.

"Why would Victoria just come out in the open that way, she should have known that the pack would never agree to include her in the treaty," I asked

"That was all an act," Edward told me,

"The pack finally had her circled between them and us," Jacob explained

"So she came to us hoping that we would forgive and forget if she left you alone, although she had it half right about her version of justice, it was just the second best choice, she still would have preferred you dead. But after realising she was trapped she seriously thought that if she left you alone we wouldn't kill her. And a part of her was excited by the idea of having the pack as an ally," Edward replied "she may have done her research, but she didn't fully understand the treaty between us or what the pack truly stood for,"

"Speaking of the treaty…" Alice said, "Technically we've broken it,"

Jacob looked up at the Cullen's, "The treaty remains in tact," he told them, "It's my way to say thank you, Edward," he said, "for her," Jacob looked at me as he said it. I knew this was a lot for him to manage, Jacob really did hate the Cullen's as much as he hated any other vampire, but he was a decent guy at heart, he was doing the right thing.

Edward nodded but never took his eyes off me, my heart truly broke for Edward, it had to be so hard for him so much harder than it would be for me. "Bella," he said in his velvety voice, "There's one thing Victoria got wrong, she doesn't know me very well. She seemed to be under the impression that I would have been happier seeing you dead than with another, it's not true. I already told you, as long as you're happy, that's what's important,"

"What about you?" I asked him

"Don't worry about me, Bella," he smiled, "I'll always be waiting in the wings, I've got all eternity,"

I gave Edward another hug and kissed his cheek, "I'm so sorry," I whispered again, "But this is where my heart belongs," Edward nodded and I stepped back and took Jacob's hand.

"This is our cue to leave," Alice said, she kissed my cheek, "We're sorry again, Bella, I wish things had gone differently,"

I looked up at Jacob and smiled, "I don't," I said, I smiled back at Edward and Alice,

"Oh!" Alice cried she pulled a small white card out of her pocket, "This is my cell and email address," she explained handing the card to me, "In case you ever need us for anything, and keep us posted about your change, if anything unexpected turns up,"

"I will," I promised, "Give the rest of the family my love," they nodded and disappeared into the night.


	17. Human

A/n: Wow, I mean really guys, wow! I am so touched by your reviews and your kind words. I'm so glad you love this. As promised in this chapter's notes there will be an explanation for possible chapters coming for this story… so read this chapter and then read my notes and the bottom and let me know your thoughts. Anyways enough from me, here's the next chapter for you. Enjoy! x

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Chapter Seventeen - Human

I watched as the Cullen's ran, my strange new eyesight could see so far into the distance so I could still see them for a few moments before they were disappeared from my sight, and I would never see them again.

Jacob then turned to the pack, who were still here, all lined up behind him. "Sam," he said to the large black wolf, "I'm ready to take my place now, as Alpha." he said, Sam bowed his head at Jacob, the rest of the wolves followed in suit all of them bowed their heads at him and they retreated gracefully into the forest finally leaving Jacob and I alone.

"I thought you weren't a leader?" I grinned at him

"I think it was something about the name Chief Jacob, you really sold it to me," he laughed,

"You did the right thing," I told him

"Yeah I think so too, after all, like you said, it's in my blood," he replied

"I don't just mean that," I said, "Tonight with Edward and Alice, thank you for forgiving and forgetting,"

"I was feeling generous," he shared a smile with me, "Besides, even though I don't like the guy, he saved you tonight." he pulled me into his arms "You could have let him turn you, you could have been with him forever if that's what you wanted,"

"That was a long time ago," I murmured, "After everything how can you still not believe that it's you I've chosen to be with?"

"I'm still waiting to wake up"

"Well believe it, you're wide awake," I told him

"You chose me?" he whispered into my ear, it almost sounded as if he was still unsure of the truth behind it.

"I chose you," I replied firmly, I pulled back to look into his eyes and I smiled, then his lips crushed against mine fiercely, when we finally parted and caught our breath Jacob took my messed up hand and looked at it with a pained expression "I'm sorry I didn't protect you very well," he said

"Jake, don't say that, it wasn't your fault," I told him, "I'm okay now. Me and you, we're going to be fine,"

"Well you'll be okay once I get you to the hospital," he said, "That is going to need stitches," He laughed at me as I groaned

"It doesn't hurt," I mumbled unintelligibly

"And I don't care, it needs sorting,"

He walked with me back to my truck, I had to admit it felt good walking at his side not feeling like such a klutz compared to his agile self, and it was a relief that it wasn't such hard work to keep up. As if he could read my mind, Jacob laughed to himself, "What?" I looked up at him smiling

"I'll miss you being so clumsy," he told me, I went to swat him playfully but he grabbed my wrist and spun me so I was leaning back in his arms and he was leaning over me, "I found it endearing," he said and then kissed me once, "But I'll sleep better knowing your safer from your own misfortune this way," he winked at me before returning me to my upright position, his smile made me feel weak at the knees.

When we got to my Chevy he took the drivers seat, and he drove me to the hospital where they stitched up my hand and wrapped it up in some gauze. The doctor insisted in giving me shots for rabies and tetanus after we told them it was an animal attack.

"I'm ready to go home now," I said when I jumped down off the hospital bed.

Jacob took my hand and placed a kiss on top of the gauze. He lead me back out to the truck and drove me home.

From inside the truck, as we pulled up outside my house, I could hear the explosions on the TV from inside and I could hear Charlie take a drink from his can of beer and then him clearing his throat. I rubbed my forehead this was crazy, I hoped I got used to it soon.

Jacob had noticed me rub my head and he planted a kiss there, "It does get better," he promised

"I hope so," I muttered, Jacob chuckled and followed me into the house.

"So you made up," Charlie smiled when he saw us walking through the door hand in hand, he was watching an old war movie on the TV, that would explain the explosions I heard.

"Yeah," I grinned

"Knew you would, you okay Jake?"

"Never better," Jacob replied,

Charlie laughed when he saw my hand wrapped up, "What did you do now?"

"Just me being me," I mumbled,

"I'm going to head home. See you later, Charlie," Jacob said, he kissed me once and gave me a quick wink before leaving the house.

"And I'm going to bed, good night dad," I said, I heard him mumble a "good night" back at me and then I headed up the stairs.

When I made it to my room, I went over to the window and opened it for Jacob who was already swinging from the tree branch, he launched himself through my window landed gracefully on my bedroom floor with a soft thud.

"I wonder if I'll be able to do that now," I said as I closed the window behind him.

Jacob laughed, "We'll have to try it someday

I changed into pyjama's that I usually saved for hot nights back in Phoenix since my boyfriend ran a temperature of 108, he stripped down to his underwear and we snuggled together in bed gravitating, as always, to our usual position. I tried to let the fatigue over come and take me away to slumberland but my head was so busy, I was changed somehow, I didn't know what I was now.

"Jacob?" I murmured

"Hmm?"

"Do I look different to you now?" I asked, I turned over to face him

He smiled, "You're a tiny bit paler than normal, but that's hardly noticeable you were already practically an albino," he laughed and then placed one of his hot hands on my cheek, "And your body temperature is a couple of degrees cooler than before. But to me you've never been more beautiful,"

"The change did that?" I asked, Vampires were perfectly stunning creatures, and that shallow part of me hoped that maybe the venom had some kind of effect on me in that way too.

"Bella, while it is true that you have a new sparkle in your eye, you haven't changed the way you look, each moment I look at you I find you more and more beautiful both on the outside and inside"

"I'm afraid I'll loose myself," I whispered, "Am I even human anymore?"

"You look human," he said and then he ran the tip of his nose across my cheek, "You smell human," when his nose reached my lips he moved his mouth to meet with mine for a quick tender kiss, "You're definitely still human,"

"So I'm not like part vampire or anything?" I asked

"You smell exactly the same to me, Bella, so I'm standing my ground by saying that you are completely one hundred percent human. Maybe this change the venom did to you only affects your scent to vampires, and believe me when I say I find it a huge relief they no longer find you appetising," I smiled feeling completely assured. I turned my back to him, once again finding our usual sleeping position.  
"I love you," I whispered,

Jacob responded by kissing my bare shoulder, "Love you too, Bella." He said "Always,"

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A/n: Awww! Cuteness? Haha okay so this is where I need you guys to vote on something. I had planned for this to be my final chapter for this story, but I have actually written additional chapters to continue with it… Consider this chapter the end of the story but the rest of the chapters are basically what happens next to Bella and Jacob in the future, I didn't deem them to be good enough to split the story and make it a separate thing and I don't know if you'd like it but I wanted to give my story a fuller ending. If you want me to continue let me know and I'll post up the following chapters but if you think the ending is okay as it is and shouldn't be spoiled then please let me know that too. Thanks again for your support. Hol x


	18. Family

A/n: OH MY GOD how much I love you guys is just... crazy! I've enjoyed writing this story its my baby and I am so so happy you all love it! So to thank you I decided the hell with it, I'll post the rest! Like I said I had intended for the last chapter to be the last chapter of this story but my imagination went crazy and I thought "Right this is it now," but then that evil little voice in my head goes… "But is it? You could do this, or this or this and make it longer!" but then I tell the voice, "Well what if I just want to end it," and the evil voice replies, "But you don't, do you? Otherwise I wouldn't be whispering to you," So I sigh, *le Sigh* "Okay then…" So I'm sorry if you don't like the rest of it, treat it as a bad sequel if you must but I wanted to give it the fuller finish... and so now you have an additional seven chapters coming up! So there you go, you just witnessed a part of my insanity and now I must run away from those men with the white jackets… catch you later! Oh please review (because I love you all and you know you want to!) Enjoy! x

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Chapter Eighteen – Family

I had never forgotten Edward Cullen, my first love, the vampire. The memory of him didn't grace my thoughts all that often these days but when I did think about him I often wondered how he was, after all it would be harder for him to forget me and move on than I him, and believe me it was far from easy to move on from him, it often made me feel guilty, but at those times I would look at Jacob and know that I made the right decision. I missed the family that I had once wanted to be part of but I missed Alice the most, she was like a sister to me, we sometimes kept in touch through emails.

I was now 25 years old, the same age physically as my fiancé Jacob black, he was subject to a rapid growth spurt while his body was being prepared for his wolf transformation. A small fact about Jacob, he didn't age. And even after the venom had changed me there were no other surprising effects that became apparent, I was still aging like normal so it bothered me a little when I thought that I would grow old without him but I learned that he wasn't immortal like a vampire, if he wanted to one day give up and stop changing into a wolf he would start aging again and would be able to grow old with me. He kept his promised and on my 25th birthday he gave up his title as pack Alpha, that privilege was returned to Sam and he quit.

But there was little need for a pack in La Push these days, since James, Victoria, Laurent and the Cullen's only two vampires graced the lands with their presence, both were just Nomads who were passing through, although not quick enough as the pack took them both out, so Jacob wasn't the only one who'd given up his wolf side, Sam and Jared had given up to be with their fiancées and then later Paul who had fallen for Jacob's sister, Rachel. Leah had also quit. So now, by lineage, Quil was the Alpha.

Jacob had strange reactions to the weather lately, he was so used to being comfortable in all conditions and while his body was adjusting to its normal human temperature again he got cold very quickly. But I did my part to help him warm up. His build and height had stayed in tact as did the imprint.

I sat twiddling my beautiful engagement ring around my finger and looked up at my fiancé and smiled. We had recently moved in together in a small cottage on the outskirts of La Push. Jacob came and sat beside me and rubbed my swollen stomach and planted a kiss there. The pregnancy wasn't planned, I was in no hurry to become a mother, but I was happy that it happened, both Jacob and I were happy.

Because of the wolf thing Jake had to drop out of high school, but a few years ago he took some classes at the community college and finished his education, he didn't know what to do with his life, eventually he knew he'd have to get a job but one day last year he stopped a bank robbery, he tried to talk down the criminals but when they were being uncooperative he unarmed them and knocked them out. Charlie had rewarded him with a job on the force and Jacob loved it. Even though he's no longer a wolf Jacob was still a strong and skilled fighter, like me he still had his extra sensative senses and agility, he wasn't as fast as he used to be, but he was faster than me.

I was very proud of him, my protector.

"Hey guys," Quil Ateara let himself in and headed straight for our refrigerator and fixed himself up a sandwich, he came and joined us in the living room and sat on the couch.

"Help yourself, Quil" Jacob laughed,

Quil was still part of the wolf pack, he had imprinted on a two year old girl a few years ago, she had just turned ten years old, Quil wasn't ready to quit until she was old enough for them to be together properly, although he was in no rush for that he was Claire's best friend and he loved being a wolf.

"A guy's got to eat," he said with his mouth half full

"And you couldn't do that at your place because…?" Jacob asked

"Ignore him," I said nudging Jacob in the ribs, "you know your welcome anytime you want," I told him, I loved the Quileute tribe, especially those who are or were a part of the pack, they were my family.

Quil shot a smug grin at Jacob and then knelt down in front of me and rubbed my stomach, "Hello in there baby!" he said, "It's your favourite uncle Quil," he said "How long left now?" he then asked me

"A week," I replied,

"And you still don't know if it's a girl or a boy?"

"We want it to be a surprise," Jacob said

I groaned, "No, _you_ want it to be a surprise," I said, "He won't let me find out," Jacob laughed and kissed me.

Jacob had proposed to me before we were expecting our baby, we have been engaged for two years now, but when I fell pregnant we decided it was best to put the wedding off until the baby was born.

I had never been more afraid than having to tell my mother about our engagement, it had been drilled into me that marriage is a bad idea until you're in your 30's. But my fear had been misplaced when she announced how happy she was for us. She said I was mature enough to know my own mind and that her rants had been more personal advice to herself than actual rules she had laid out for me. She gave us her blessing and she became even more thrilled when she discovered I was pregnant, she was so excited about getting a grandchild to dote over.

Charlie and Billy were also thrilled for us. There were no nerves telling either of those two.

"Jake, help me up," My agility wasn't helpful these days, the pregnancy slowed me down. Jacob got off the couch to help me up but Quil was faster now and was already there, he pulled me up and my stomach look so much larger now that it was all stuck out in front. I cradled my bump, "I feel like a beach whale," I complained

"No, you're glowing," Jacob wrapped his arms around my waist rubbing my little nudger who always moved at his touch, it felt weird, like bubbles. He kissed my cheek and then unravelled himself and took my hand, we were heading to Billy's he was hosting another of his famous bonfire gatherings.

"Hey Bells," Charlie was the first to greet us when we arrived, "You're getting bigger each time I see you," he beamed touching my round stomach

"Thanks dad," I groaned, he chuckled

Billy laughed, "Just means there's a healthy baby growing in there," he said, "Kid's got good genes," he said gesturing at himself and Charlie we laughed,

Jacob rolled his eyes, "Yeah, mine and Bella's genes," he replied

"And where did you get your genes from?" Billy grinned

"Oh Jake, Bella, you're here," Emily hurried over to us and wrapped her arms around me, Sam followed carrying their 2 year old son Micah, she touched my stomach. Why did everyone do that? "Not long now," she smiled, I had asked Emily to be my midwife and we had become close friends.

"Hey Mikey!" Quil cried, little Micah waved at him with a huge smile, he was a beautiful little boy.

"You're in trouble, Quil," Emily grinned, "Somebody's been looking for you," she said,

"Quil!" Claire called as if on cue, Quil's smile brightened, I've never seen him look more happy than when he heard the sound of Claire's voice, she came bouncing over to us, her dark glossy hair swung above her shoulders, "Come play!" she cried and grabbed his hand tugging him away.

"Okay Claire bear," he replied, then he turned back to us, "Duty calls," he grinned and followed her.

I looked around and saw Paul and Rachel sat talking with Jared and Kim, I gave them a little wave. Jared and Kim got married a couple of years ago and they were trying for a baby, so far unsuccessfully. Paul and Rachel were also engaged now.

Sue and Leah were talking with Old Quil and Seth and Embry were just heading over to join us, both of them were still wolves with Quil. They made a fuss over how big I've gotten before becoming engrossed in conversation with Jacob, Emily rolled her eyes at me when Sam, Charlie and Billy joined in.

"You look like you need to sit down," she said to me,

I nodded, my ankles were sore and my back ached, "I doubt they'll notice if we sit down over there for a while," I said gesturing to the huge logs that served as seats around the bonfire.

Emily looked at the guys, "You're probably right," she laughed and we headed over and took a seat. We sat in silence a just lost in our own thoughts until Emily asked me a question.

"Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you hadn't chose Jacob?"

"Sometimes," I admitted, "But I just can't imagine my life without him, I'm just so lucky to have such a big family. I love him so much,"

"Jacob mentioned that you stay in touch with Alice Cullen," she said

"Now and again," I replied, "they may be vampires but they're not the enemy, I've seen how good they all are, and Alice is unbelievably sweet, I do miss her sometimes, but we're worlds apart now, and it's a little awkward because of the whole Edward thing"

"Do you miss Edward?" she asked,

"Not like I thought I would, I loved him, but it wasn't right or healthy for me, Edward became… an addiction, he did the right thing for me by leaving, it gave me the sight to see what it was I really needed," I glanced over at Jacob,

Emily smiled, "I'm glad you made the right choice," she said, "Sometimes I don't think that even you can see just how much Jacob loves you. He watches you all the time, even now you haven't noticed but he looks over at you every few seconds, like he can't keep his eyes away," she giggled

I was about to reply but something felt… strange. I closed my eyes and attuned my hearing into my bump, my baby's heartbeat was racing a bit faster than normal, I put my hands on my bump and felt a sharp pain, I grunted a few times,

"Bella, what's wrong?" Jacob was already running over to me,

Emily was on her knees in front of me, "Her waters just broke, a little early but she's going into labour Jacob,"


	19. Birth

A/n: I love you guys so much! Thanks for the reviews they make me soooooo happy! So yeah, I decided to continue this story, it seemed such a waste not to post these chapters! Like I said think 'Bad Sequel' and you'll enjoy them lol!!! Anyway this chapter kind of skips ahead a bit more after the birth scene. I'm not happy with this chapter to be honest, I was having troubles wording it, but this is pretty much a filler chapter anyway that helps me set up the next few chapters so yeah... hmm. I'd still like to see your reviews come in like I said before each one is like pieces of my own eternal sunshine so thank you again. Anyways here's the next chapter for you. Enjoy x

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Chapter Nineteen – Birth

"Congratulations both of you," Emily smiled, "You have a beautiful baby girl," she passed the tiny bundle to me and I looked at my daughter for the first time, she was so beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful,

"Wow," I breathed

Jacob was at my side beaming over his daughter, he met my eyes and he kissed me, "Look what we did," he said.

When I went into labour I was rushed to hospital, the plan was to have a home birth but because the baby was early Emily thought it was best to go to a hospital just in case there could be a complication. I was so scared. But luckily everything was fine, my baby just couldn't wait to come out.

I couldn't stop looking at the tiny child in my arms it was the most beautiful creature on the earth, and I have met a fair few beautiful creatures in my time. The tiny little doll like wonder in my arms surpassed all that I thought was beautiful in this world, she was perfect.

"What are you going to call her?" Emily asked

Jacob and I had talked about names but never settled on one that we both really liked, I thought about it and we looked at each other, "What about, Sarah?" I asked, "After your mother," I said to Jacob. He smiled and nodded

"It's perfect," he said, I was sure I saw a tear in his eye, I passed our daughter over to him to hold for the first time, "Hello Sarah," Jacob smiled, he cradled her so delicately, afraid to break her. He looked so proud.

There was a small knock on the door and Emily sighed, "There are a few people waiting to meet her and are getting impatient," she opened the door to them. The first person in the room was Billy who was being wheeled in by Charlie and behind them were Sam, Quil, Embry and Seth, followed by Jacob's sister Rachel and Paul.

"I called your mom," Charlie came over and gave me a kiss, "She and Phil are going to get the next flight out here. Congratulations"

Jacob passed our daughter to his father to hold, "Who do we have here?" Billy asked with a brilliant smile on his face

"Dad, meet our daughter, Sarah. It was Bella's idea to name her after mom," he smiled and came over to sit beside me on the bed. He slipped his arm around my waist and kissed my temple, "I love you so much," he whispered into my ear.

We watched as our family passed Sarah around to each other so they could have a cuddle with her.

I was so tired but I didn't want to sleep the tiny child that now lay in Embry's arms was all I could concentrate on. I had a daughter. Even though I had 9 months to prepare myself for this, now that she was here it was unbelievable. Jacob and I had made her, that tiny little thing and she was so precious. I was feeling rather emotional and began tearing up.

"I'm sorry," I laughed awkwardly

"Don't worry about it, Bella," Emily smiled, "It's natural, your hormones are all wacky at the minute,"

"Come here you soft thing," Jacob grinned and pulled me into an embrace, "I'm so proud of you," he said, "Thank you for the two best gifts I could have ever asked for, I have the two most beautiful girls in the world,"

A few hours later I was allowed to go home, I was sat on the couch with Sarah in my arms, Jacob was sat at my side, and still I couldn't pull my eyes away from the incredible little girl, "She has your nose," I said, "And your mouth,"

Jacob smiled, "But she has your eyes," with one finger he stroked Sarah's cheek lightly and she grabbed his finger,

"That's your daddy," I said automatically using baby talk, I wasn't even aware I could do baby talk before it made me giggle, "He loves you very, very, very much,"

"I still can't believe we have a daughter," Jacob beamed, I remembered what Emily had said at the bonfire about not realising exactly how much he loved me, I did because it was equal to the love I had for him. And now my heart had doubled up twice the size to make room for the love of our daughter.

A year after Sarah was born Jacob and I finally married, it was such a wonderful day and of course I was counted on to be the blushing bride, I wasn't into the whole big white wedding thing, so we just had a small ceremony in La Push with out nearest and dearest. It was one day where I was extremely please for the agility the venom had given me, I gracefully managed to make it down the aisle in one peace although I was so nervous I thought I'd keel over. Luckily I had kept it together.

Sarah was a beautiful child, she had everyone wrapped around her finger. She was adored by everyone she met. She had my eyes, and black silky hair like Jacob's although like mine you could see red in it when the sun hit it. She had Jacob's beautiful russet skin. But Sarah proved to be like me she was a mature but a very curious child.

Two years after the wedding we gave Sarah a baby brother who we called Caleb. Caleb was slightly fairer than his sister, but he was the double of his father, in his looks and as he grew older we learned that he was also very much like Jacob in his personality too.

The days went by so fast and we were so happy. We watched as our children grew up far too quickly before our eyes.

"Hello beautiful," Jacob's arms slipped around my waist from behind me I turned to face my husband and kissed him. We had this particular afternoon to ourselves, Sarah and Caleb both attended the school on the reservation, Sarah had just turned 17 and Caleb was 14.

"You told me on the phone you have news," I said

He nodded, "Yes, there's good news and bad news," he admitted

"Okay what's the good news?" I asked

"The good news is that Charlie put my name forward, he said Forks was too small for me. I've been accepted for promotion,"

"Oh my god, Jake!" I cried, "That's amazing!"

"Yeah, it's great. The bad news though, is we'd have to move,"

"Where?" I asked, I expected maybe somewhere in one of the nearby cities, Olympia or Seattle.

"Green River," he murmured

"Green River?" I repeated, "As in Green River, Wyoming?"

"Yeah," Jacob sighed

"Well what do you want to do?" I asked him

"I don't know"

"Do you want the job, Jake?"

"The money's great and it's a better job but…" he said

"Jacob, do you want this job?" I asked interrupting him

He nodded, "But I don't want to leave La Push behind, our family, our friends,"

"Wyoming is what? Two states over? It's not as if we'd never see them again, if you want this job, Jacob, take it," I told him

"What about the kids?" he asked

"We'll talk to them, they'll be back from school soon, you've got to take this job Jacob otherwise you'll regret it. I can get transferred, if not I'll find somewhere else,"

"Are you sure?" Jacob asked

"Positive, if we don't like it we could always come back, can't we?"

Jacob smiled, "Yeah, okay, I'll let them know that I can accept the position," then he leaned in and kissed me, "Thanks Bella,"

I smiled, "And you call me the martyr, do something for yourself for once Jacob, you deserve it," he pulled me closer to him and kissed me more, down my neck and on my collarbone, he knew exactly where I liked it. It never failed to amaze me how much, even now after all these years, I still craved Jacob. I could never get enough of him, our bodies could never be close enough.

"I love you, Bella Black," he whispered into my ear


	20. Surprise

A/n: Thanks again guys! This is where the last few chapters begin to pick up a bit. Thanks for your support hope you're still enjoying the story. Mucho love x

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Chapter Twenty – Surprise

None of us were truly happy about leaving our home, but we all agreed to try it because it was a good opportunity and as a family we all agreed that Jacob shouldn't pass up on it, we didn't have to stay if it didn't work out. So instead of selling our home in La Push, Embry and Seth moved in and rented it from us, they were the only two wolves left now. Quil had given up several years ago so he could be with Claire who was now of age.

Our house in Green River was considerably bigger which was a bonus, it was the perfect size for our family of four.

We pulled our car up into our new drive and waiting for us on the lawn was the chief of police, we got out of the car and went to meet with him, "Jacob Black, welcome to Green River," he said shaking his hand, he then smiled at me, "You must be the wife, Isabella Black, it's a pleasure to meet you ma'am," he took my hand and kissed my cheek, "I'm Chief Hatton, but you can call me Bob,"

"It's nice to meet you," I smiled, "These are our children, Sarah and Caleb,"

"Pleasure," he nodded at them, "Your dad's going to be my new deputy for a little while and I'm retiring soon so then he'll take over from me," he then told them, "Your grandpa Swan has told me nothing but great things," he then turned back to Jacob and I, "I'll let you all get settled in, I hope you'll be happy here,"

"Thanks," Jacob shook his hand again.

Just then the moving truck appeared, I directed him to the end of the drive and then we all begun moving our stuff in.

"This place is great right?" Jacob asked us at the dinner table that evening

"The house is nice," Sarah said

"The old house was great too," Caleb muttered under his breath, in normal circumstances most parents would have missed that but Jacob and I had supernatural hearing.

"Caleb," I chided, "We're giving it a chance, we know you miss your friends they can come up anytime you like and were going to spend one weekend a month back in La Push so it's not as if you'll never see them again," Caleb's eyebrows rose. I could tell that the children always wondered how they never got away with anything like that.

"You'll be starting the new school tomorrow you'll make some friends here too," Jacob said, "Like we said before we're here on a trial, if by the end of the month we're all miserable and desperate to go home then we'll go home, is that a deal?"

Caleb nodded, "Okay,"

The next morning after the kids left for school and Jacob had gone to work I went back to unpacking the rest of the house, my old job wasn't able to relocate me so for now I was unemployed and looking for work.

I cleaned the house from top to bottom and I begun to unpack, I started with the room that needed the most work, the kitchen.

I was trying to balance a box of plates on the kitchen table it was already crowded and I was pushing my luck so it shouldn't have surprised me when one of the other boxes was pushed off and fell on top of me, the box contained vases and glassware it shattered and I cut my arm pretty deep, "Shoot!" I muttered, so much for agility. It was definitely going to need stitches, I wrapped a towel loosely around it carefully so I didn't push the glass deeper into the cut, I knew a lot of first aid I was a mom now, besides most of it came from my klutzy days. But the glass was already in pretty deep, if my eyesight wasn't enhanced I wouldn't have even been able to see it.

I called a taxi to take me to the hospital, it was pretty quiet in the ER so a nurse directed me straight to a room behind a curtain to wait for the doctor who should be along any minute.

As I sat there I pulled the towel off my arm to analyse the wound again, there was a bit of cotton stuck to the blood now and I gritted my teeth as I pulled the thread off my wound. It stung. The smell of blood used to make me feel dizzy and sick, since the day Victoria bit me I've actually liked the smell of blood. I'd never admitted that to anyone, not even to Jacob, it worried me.

I heard the curtain being pulled back, the doctor was finally here, I looked up and gasped. He looked exactly the same as he did when I last saw him on the night of my 18th birthday. "Carlisle?"

"Bella?" he seemed just as shocked as I was, he looked at my arm, "Déjà vu" he commented, "Shouldn't surprise me to be reunited with you in the emergency room of all places," he chuckled, "what happened?" he took a seat next to me and started plucking glass out of my arm, he was doing it at vampire speed just like before, he didn't have to hide anything from me.

"A box of glass fell on me," I muttered unintelligibly

"So, how're you?" he asked, "No more... talents emerged after... I take it?"

"No, nothing new," I said

"You've aged well," he commented

"As have you," I said, Carlisle laughed at my unfunny attempt at a joke, "Do you live out here?" I asked

Carlisle nodded, "We moved here last summer," he said, "What brings you out here?" he asked

"Jacob's the new deputy chief, my dad suggested him, Chief Hatton and Charlie are old friends, we moved up here yesterday,"

"Of all the places," Carlisle mused "Is Jacob still…?"

"A wolf? No, he gave that up years ago,"

"I see from your wedding ring that you got married," Carlisle noted, I nodded, "Any children?" he asked

"Two, our daughter Sarah is 17 and our son Caleb is 14," I wondered why he doesn't know all this already. I was still in contact with Alice. Of course it wasn't as frequent as it used to be but we'd send and recieve the occassional email, she knew about my wedding, my children and even if I didn't tell her she should have been able to see it, even though Jacob used to block her visions she could see around him just fine now. "Didn't Alice...?"

"No Alice doesn't tell us anything about you anymore," Carlisle sighed,

"How come?" I asked and then I saw the way he met my eyes and I knew the answer, I deliberated for a moment, "How is he, Carlisle?" I asked, everytime I'd ask Alice this question she'd always avoid the answer, she wouldn't talk about him to me. I took that as a bad sign.

"He's… lonely," Carlisle finally answered after carefully choosing his words.

"I'm so sorry for everything," I mumbled

"Don't blame yourself, you fell in love and he broke your heart when he left you, you found a new love in Jacob, you're only human, Bella," he said, "We all still care about you, we've missed you, especially Alice,"

"I've missed you all too," I smiled tentatively, I wondered how Jacob would react knowing the Cullen's live here. I also realised at that moment that my children would be going to school with them. This was going to be awkward. His words then circled my head _You're only human, Bella... _"Is that all I am, Carlisle? Only human?" I asked, Jacob had told me that he believed that without a doubt that I was one hundred percent human, but I still had my doubts. True it was only my senses and agility that had been effected by the venom but still since that day I had never felt the same.

He sighed, "You are one of a kind that's for sure," he said, "I doubt this has ever happened to anyone before, but you are definitely more human than vampire, you don't heal," he gestured to my cut arm, "You're aging, You can go out in sunlight, you don't experience our thirst, the only thing that makes you more than human are your senses and agility and the fact that your scent no longer appeals to vampires, consider that a good thing," he smiled, "At the end of the day Bella, you're human," Somehow hearing it from Carlisle made me feel even more assured about it, "There you are, all cleaned up," he placed some gauze over my stitches

"Thank you, Carlisle,"

"You're very welcome," he bowed his head slightly,

"What is it about my scent that puts vampires off?" I asked

"I'm not sure," Carlisle said, "Your scent is clearly human, its just... and I'm trying to find the right words to say this without sounding offensive... but its almost as if you smell... off"

"off?"

"Much like how the wolves smell to us, they are, at their core humans, but their blood doesn't appeal to us. But you don't have the same wet dog scent,"

"Okay," I mumbled trying to make sense of what he was saying, I understood and I wasn't offended, like Carlisle said it should be considered a good thing, I jumped off the hospital bed. "Well thanks again, Carlisle," I told him

He nodded, "I guess we'll be seeing each other around, Mrs Black,"

"I suppose we will," whether that was a good thing or not, I wasn't certain, "Goodbye Carlisle," I said and headed out to the payphone and dialled the number for a taxi to come take me home.

I hadn't got as much work done today as I should have, earlier that morning I had expected to nearly have the house unpacked and cleared, but after my trip to the ER and my surprise encounter with Carlisle Cullen I didn't find myself in the mood to want to continue.

My children arrived home before Jacob, they had caught the bus back.

"How was school?" I asked when they found me in the living room,

"Okay," Sarah murmured

"It was so cool!" Caleb grinned, "I've met some awesome new friends,"

"I'm glad to hear it," I smiled at him

"Is everything okay, Sarah?" I asked, she seemed more distant than usual, she was like me, she often kept to herself

"Yes," she replied quietly,

"Did you meet any new friends today?" I asked her

"Some," she said,

It was hard to push Sarah into releasing more information so I let it slide she'll tell me in her own time, I just wanted to know one crucial detail - had she met Edward Cullen?

Later that evening while the kids were doing their homework in the living room I was cooking dinner in the kitchen when I heard Jacob come home, he came over and gave me a kiss, "Hello beautiful," he winked at me then he caught sight of the gauze on my arm, "Some things never change," he laughed, "What happened to you?" he took my arm and planted a kiss on top of the gauze

"The vases came off worse," I murmured

"I don't doubt that," he chuckled,

He seemed to notice my unease, "Is everything okay, Bella?"

"Jacob, I have to talk to you," I whispered

He saw the look on my face and his face became serious, "What happened?" he asked

"When I was at the hospital earlier with my arm…" I started, "I saw Carlisle,"

Jacob's mouth dropped, "Carlisle? As in Carlisle Cullen?"

"They live here," I told him,

Jacob clenched his fists, back in La Push they had a truce but he was raised to despise vampires, "Jake, take it easy, they're not a danger," I told him, "I just wanted to warn you,"

"I'll be keeping an eye on them," he said, "Embry and Seth are only a phone call away they could be here in an hour if we needed them,"

"Why would we need to bring Seth and Embry here?"

"You know why, we need to protect our family from those leeches," he muttered

"Jake, the Cullen's aren't a threat to anybody," I told him, "You know that,"

"But there's no treaty here, Bella"

"The Cullen's?" Jacob and I turned our heads to the door, we hadn't realised Sarah had come in,

"Sarah we were having a private conversation," I said, "Could you give us a minute,"

"What about the Cullen's?" she asked, "Why would they be a threat?"

"It's nothing, Sarah," Jacob dismissed her, "Your mother and I are talking,"

Sarah didn't move she just folded her arms waiting for an answer.

"You met the Cullen's?" I asked Sarah

"Not exactly," she replied, "They keep to themselves. How do you know them? We just moved here,"

"Just some rumours down at the station," Jacob lied,

Our conversation was interrupted by Caleb, he was headed straight to the refrigerator, the mom instinct kicked it, "Caleb, no snacks before dinner," I told him. I grabbed his arm just as he reached for the refridgerator door and gasped. "Mom, are you okay?" Caleb gave me a strange look

I placed my hand on his forehead, "Jacob," I murmured, Jacob grabbed Caleb's other arm and our eyes met in a look of understanding for a brief second. Caleb was burning up, his skin was hot.

"Err... you guys okay?" Caleb looked at the pair of us like we were loosing the plot. I so hoped we were. Please no, not my son.

"Caleb, how are you feeling?" I asked

"I'm fine," he shrugged, "Why?"


	21. Insomnia

A/n: Thanks again for the amazing reviews glad your enjoying the extra chapters. Since you all love me so much... would you like to check out my new Twilight story? It's called 'The Jacob Chronicles' and I've posted up 2 chapters so far it's basically going to be a series of one shots from his POV. Anyways here's the next chapter for you. Enjoy x

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Chapter Twenty One – Insomnia 

I couldn't sleep that night, Jacob's light snores didn't ease me like they usually did, I got out of bed, carefully so not to disturb him and softly padded down the stairs, I made myself a cup of coffee and sat outside on the porch swing and wrapped my arms around my legs, it was cool out tonight. I took a sip of my coffee and rubbed my forehead. My head was wired and I couldn't block out my senses tonight like I normally could the noises around me were amplified by a thousand, I could hear everything. I was getting a migraine.

A shiver ran down my spine and a strange feeling came over me, I remembered this feeling from a long time ago. I was being watched. My senses were already in overdrive and I could hear someone moving nearby, the scent was familiar yet distant but I knew who it was. I knew I'd have to get this over with sooner or later.

"Edward?" I whispered

A white figure emerged from the trees that lined the side of my house, he hadn't changed a bit, frozen forever at 17. A stone god. He came and joined me on the porch

"I can't get used to your new scent, it took me a while to track you down," he said,

"Sorry" I muttered

"Carlisle said you were here," he said in his velvety voice, "he told me not to bother you, but I had to see you again, you look well, Bella."

"So do you," I commented, it was true, compared to the last memory I had of him, he looked so torn, and I had caused that. It was a relief that he seemed okay now but that could be down to years of practise at masking his pain.

Edward just shrugged, "What other choice do I have?" he asked,

I remained silent I didn't have an answer for that, I would always have that guilty feeling in the back of my mind about leaving Edward heartbroken, but in the end I had to do what was best for me, I had to choose my true love.

"I met your daughter today," he said, "Sarah Black, she was sat next to me in Chem. class," he cast a sideways smile at me. Chemistry, just like when I first met him. "She's interesting," he commented, "She looks like her father except for her eyes which are the most beautiful eyes in the world," he said, "But just like her mother her mind is a blank canvas to me, and her scent is just as overwhelming as yours used to be. She reminds me so much of you, Bella"

"How?" I asked

"There's just these little things, the way her mind works... not that I can hear that, but how she answers questions, she's so much like you" so Edward couldn't hear Sarah's thoughts either? It sounded to me like he was more than just interested in my daughter, "And after all these years, it's still frustrating not to know what you're thinking now," he laughed

"I'm trying to decided whether we should go back home or not," I replied

"Why, because of us?" Edward asked

"We've been here a day and already our son is burning up and he's growing taller by the second," I explained, I could see Edward didn't understand, I forgot he didn't know much about the La Push wolves. "It means he's becoming a werewolf, the gene activates when they're old enough to handle it and when vampires are near," I explained, "I don't want that life for him, I want him to have a normal life, I want him to be safe." Then I met Edward's eyes, "And I want you to leave my daughter alone, Edward," I warned him. I saw the look on Sarah's face today when were talking about the Cullen's she wore the same look of curiosity I once had. Edward had left me broken and I didn't want history to repeat itself. His face became unreadable now, he turned his head to the house, as he did I heard Jacob stirring upstairs "Your husband is awake," he said, "He's wondering where you are,"

"I suppose you'd better go then," I said

Edward rose to his feet and nodded, "I just want to know one thing before I go," he said turning back to me, "Are you happy, Bella?" he asked

I looked at him and smiled, "Yes," I said, "I love my family, Jacob is everything to me,"

"Do you ever wish..." he struggled to find words, his face was a see-through mask trying to disguise the pain he was really feeling, "... that you had never met me?"

"I'm a 42 year old woman, Edward," I said, "And in my 42 years I've not had any regrets, what happened in the past made me who I am today,"

"Bella?" I turned to the sound of Jacob's voice and the door opening, I turned back and Edward was already gone, "Bella, I've been looking for you, what are you doing out here?" he asked he sat beside me and pulled me into a hug.

"Just came out to think," I replied, "I couldn't sleep,"

"Is it the Cullen thing?" he asked

I nodded, "Do you think we should just… go home?"

"Do you?"

"I'm not sure, Caleb is changing and with the Cullen's around that's not going to stop," I said, "Do we want that for our son?"

Jacob remained silent, "There's something else that's bugging you isn't there?" as always Jacob could read me like a book,

"Edward stopped by," I told him, "And I get the feeling he's interested in Sarah and vice versa,"

I could hear Jacob grind his teeth together, "Not with our daughter he's not, it's bad enough we have to share the same town again,"

"What do you suggest Jacob? Do you want to be the type of parent that forces his children what to do, who to love?" I asked,

"I want our children to be safe. We should move back to La Push," he said

"Jake, no. You love your new job." I said, "We said we'll give it a month right? Let's just see how things... evolve and if it gets any worse then we can go home,"

"Okay," Jacob sighed, he kissed me on the cheek and squeezed my hand lightly, "Come on let's go back to bed,"

A month had passed and nothing more was heard from the Cullen's. Sarah never mentioned them, not like she would anyway.

It was a Saturday and I was home alone, Caleb was round a friends house playing video games, he was still changing his body was getting bigger, more prominent, taller, his temperature was soaring, he was getting worse, Jacob predicted he could change any day now.

Sarah had gone shopping with a few new friends which was strange for her, it was true that she was so like me. We weren't the shopping type of girls, but she was still trying to make friends here so I guess it made sense.

Jacob was working, and I still needed to find a job. Now that the unpacking was out of the way and the house was obsessively clean, my life had gone from boring to mind numbingly dull when my family weren't around. I usually went for the occassional run. One good thing about the effect the venom had on me was that I never seemed to run out of breath when I ran so I could run literally miles without getting tired, I loved to run. It was a great way to think. But I had already gone for a run that morning and I still had the rest of the day to kill.

I decided to take a walk into town, we didn't live far from the centre, walking would pass more time anyway. I got some food in for dinner later and then headed to the local library to use the internet since ours wasn't yet connected and I ran a search for local jobs in the area. I plugged my flash drive into the prehistoric machine and uploaded my resume and emailed it to a few different employment agencies.

On my way out of the library I passed the payphone and saw the local phone book laid out on the table beside it. I picked it up and flicked to the 'C' pages and searched for Cullen, there was only one family in town by the name of Cullen according to this book but I could tell it wasn't the family I was looking for, the street these Cullen's lived on was two blocks away from my street and the houses on that street weren't exactly the kind of homes Carlisle and his family would live in. With frustration I closed the book and saw that this particular phone book was over 5 years old anyway I dropped it back on the table and decided to try a different method to locate them. I had more to say to Edward, I still cared about him and I wanted to make sure he was okay. That pained look on his face I saw when I last encountered him stuck with me and that was my fault, but what more could I say? What more could I do for him when my heart belonged to another? Regardless I wanted to try to help.

I picked up the payphone and dialled the police department. It was Bob Hatton who answered.

"Mrs Black how lovely to hear from you, are you alright?" he asked

"Yes, fine thank you,"

"Jacob isn't around; he's on a training course,"

"That's fine Bob," I replied, "I needed to ask you a question,"

"How can I help, Bella?"

"Dr Cullen and his family, where do they live?" I asked

"The Cullen's, why do you want to know that?" he asked me

"They're old friends of mine," I told him, "No doubt they have a large property surrounded by plenty of forestry,"

He chuckled, "Ah, so you do know them," he gave me the address I scrawled it down on the back of an envelop that was stashed in my purse and thanked him.

I walked back home to fetch the car, this journey would be a bit too far for me to walk.

I drove the winding roads through the forest until I arrived at a grand house, much grander than the one they used to live in, in Forks. I climbed out the car and Alice was already waiting for me with a forced smile on her face, "Hey Bella!" she waved. She danced over to me and wrapped her tiny arms around my waist.

"You've aged really well"

"You Cullen's need to stop saying that,"

There was a solid tap on my shoulder, "Guess who," said a voice,

"Hello, Emmett," I turned around and smiled at him, "It's nice to see you again,"

"You too, Bella!" he cried, "Wow you got old,"

"Yeah that's what usually happens to us mere humans," I muttered

"We all know you aren't just a mere human," Emmett winked

Esme, Jasper and Rosalie came out to join us they all greeted me and didn't forget to mention how old I looked either, apparently Carlisle was working but no one mentioned where Edward was.

"I need to talk to him," I said after a while, "Where's Edward?" An awkward silence fell among the group and no one answered me, "Well? Where is he?"

"He's… out," Esme supplied

"There's something you're not telling me," I said, and I noticed they were trying to block my view of something. But I saw it, I saw what they were trying to hide me from, my daughter's car was here, "Where is she?" I growled


	22. Disobedience

A/n: Hey guys. Wow, lots of mixed opinions about where you think I'm taking this story haha! But I'm a afraid guys... I'm not Stephanie Meyer and write a 700 page book just to please fans!!! Haha don't get me wrong Breaking Dawn was good but please... all she did was give everyone the big happy ending we all expected. And like someone who reviewed said... Jacob did fall in love, well imprinted, with Bella's daughter which is just as weird! Just read on and see where I take this. Also please check out my latest story 'The Jacob Chronicles'. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! x

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Chapter Twenty Two – Disobedience 

"I told him to leave her alone," I growled, "I can't believe he did this, how dare he?!"

"Bella, take it easy," Alice said

"How does she even know about you?" I asked them, "I never told my children the truth,"

"But she knew the Quileute legends and figured it out for herself," Emmett told me

"It didn't help when she overheard you and Jacob talking about us and vampires," Rosalie muttered

I glared at her, Rosalie and I never got along, I turned to Esme "Is he nearby?" I asked

"Close enough," Esme murmured,

"Good," I said, "EDWARD!" I shouted, "BRING MY DAUGHTER BACK NOW!"

"Bella, dear, we know we upset you in the past and we are truly sorry but don't punish him now, Edward is finally beginning to be happy again after all these years, he was so lost without you," Esme told me

"I'm sorry about that, I really am," I said, "But he left me, Esme, he broke my heart because he thought I was too human to handle life with him. And he was right, I've got the scars to prove it. He can't do the same to my daughter. I'm talking to you mother to mother, I don't want my little girl going through the same thing. I don't want to break up my family. I won't watch history repeat itself,"

"Mom?" I turned to face Edward leading Sarah through the tree's hand in hand he looked ashamed, "What are you doing here?" she asked

"We're going home," I said firmly, I met Edward's eyes and glared at him "Now,"

"No," she said

"Sarah, do as your told, get in the car," I told her

"Bella, please be reasonable," Esme said softly

"Bella was always funny when she got angry," Emmett chuckled, Jasper nudged him in the ribs as I glared at him, also glaring at him were Alice and Esme

I felt calmer all of a sudden and my eyes flicked to Jasper, "Stop," I told him,

Edward nodded at his brother and I could feel his calming influence slip a little, I was angry but calm enough to see more reason, although I couldn't find real reason in this situation "Sarah, in the car," I told her, my voice still under Jasper's calming effects

"No, I'll go when I'm ready I have my own car here," she pointed her car out

"Give Alice the keys she'll bring it back for you,"

"Do as she asks," Edward murmured, Sarah sighed and handed the keys to Alice.

Then I shot a look at Edward, "What was the one thing I asked of you?" I reminded him, "I told you to stay away from my daughter," Edward didn't speak, the reason behind why I came here today vanished, my pity was replace by fury, he did the one thing I asked him not to do. I ushered Sarah into my car, "I can't believe you," I muttered aiming it at Edward. I climbed into the drivers side and headed home.

"What is your problem?" Sarah yelled at me once we were far enough away so that Cullen's would no longer be able to hear us

"You know exactly what my problem is, Sarah, I don't want you anywhere near them, we're going home, back to La Push where we belong,"

"I'm staying here," Sarah muttered, "I'm not leaving Edward,"

My god she was stubborn, she was definitely my daughter, "You are not staying with those reeking bloodsuckers," did I really just say that? I sounded like Jacob. I knew the Cullen's were safe enough. I even cared about them still, but I was just so mad with Edward, why would he do this to me?

"So you do know what they really are," she said, "They aren't dangerous to humans, Mom, they're like vegetarians, they only hunt animals,"

"I know," I muttered,

"Yes, I figured you knew who they were, so how do you know them, mom?" she asked

"When I was your age Edward Cullen and I were… together" I explained, "We were in love,"

Her face dropped, she didn't know that tiny detail, "I expect the Cullen's didn't tell you that they used to live in Forks did they?" she shook her head, "So now you know that the Quileute legends of the Cold One's are true you should also know that the legends of the Wolves are too," I told her, "You're father was one, and now because the Cullen's are here too we think your brother is going to change any day now, he's showing all the signs,"

"You and Edward?" Sarah just mumbled, "So why didn't you stay together?" she asked

"He left me," I said, "Said I was too human, too vulnerable to be around his family, he lied by telling me he didn't want me anymore and just left. It was your father who helped me get over it, and I realised I was more in love with him, but then Edward came back claiming he was sorry and wanted me back, but I had learned to love Jacob more than Edward, he was the one who healed my heart, it belonged to him now. That was the last time I saw any of them until we came here. But the point is he left me in a really bad way and I'm not going to let him do that to you too, Sarah, I just won't"

"Edward." she said, "And you? Oh god, this is so weird," She was silent the rest of the ride home, thankfully Jacob's police cruiser was in the drive, he was home. I hoped he can drill some sense into her.

I could hear something going on inside, "Oh no," I whispered,

"Mom? What is it?" Sarah asked, I ignored my daughter, I was too preoccupied by the sounds I could hear from inside the house, obviously Sarah wouldn't be able to hear them yet, I flew towards the door, Sarah was right behind me. The snapping and growling was louder inside. Sarah now heard it too.

"What the hell is going on?" Sarah cried, "Did you get a dog?"

"Caleb, easy. I can explain everything just concentrate and change back," I heard Jacob saying

"Oh god, it's happened already," I muttered, Sarah and I followed the sounds into the living room where there was a bear sized, russet coloured wolf and Jacob was stood in front of it trying to calm him down, he was slowly trying to approach our son but the he clawed the air anytime he got near. Caleb looked exactly like Jacob did when he used to be a wolf.

"Oh my god!" Sarah cried, "That's Caleb?"

"Yes," I said, "This is what the Cullen's have done to him," I told her and ran over to Caleb, who went to claw at me and snapped his large teeth at me.

"Bella, careful, he's freaking out," Jacob warned me

I got close enough to him and rubbed the side of his neck comforting him the way I used to when he was a young child, "Easy Caleb," I said soothingly, "Just concentrate, focus baby," I said, "We'll explain everything to you when your human again," I looked at my husband, "Hand me that throw off the couch" I said to him, Jacob handed me the throw and I continued rubbing Caleb's neck, waiting for him to transform back. When he changed back a few moments later and I wrapped the throw over his shoulders to give him a bit of dignity, I saw that his clothes were shredded all across the floor due to his transformation. "Are you okay baby?" I asked him

Caleb was trembling, "What's happening to me?" he asked

"We'll explain everything soon, okay sweetie? Just go upstairs and put some clothes on and join us in the dining room when you're ready," I said, Caleb nodded slowly and did as he was told I saw him shaking and I felt bad for him, I turned to Sarah, "In the dining room. Now," I said trying my hardest to control my anger.

"Bella?" Jacob asked noticing the angry tone in my voice, "What's wrong?"

"We need a family meeting," I told him, "Guess who your daughters dating,"

Jacob scowled at her, understanding immediately who I was referring to, "You heard your mother," he said matching my previous tone.

When Sarah and Caleb both sat at the table Jacob and I remained standing. Jacob took my hand in his and we told them everything, about the Cullen's, about the wolves, everything they needed to know now. Everything we wanted to protect them from.

"I'll call Seth and Embry, get them to come and help Caleb out," Jacob said

"No don't bother," I told him, "I'm sorry, Jake, it's not working out here, we're going home,"

"No, I love him, mom, please don't make me do this," Sarah begged, "I am not you, Edward loves me, he promised he'll never hurt me or leave me,"

My heart constricted, "We're going home that's final, I can't stay here and watch you suffer like I did, I love you too much for that, Sarah," I looked at my hand the two linking scars were still there. The scarred part of my skin was colder than the rest of my skin. That was my reminder of Edward. Everytime he was around I got hurt. "I told you what happened to me, I almost died or became one of them more than once. I'm not going to stand by and let him risk you like that either. I've been hunted by vicious vampires, Sarah, it was the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me,"

Sarah met my eyes and I tried to ignore her tears, "Fine," she whispered, "Just let me say goodbye," this was tearing at my heartstrings, suddenly I felt like a terrible mother, she was giving it all up for my sake. She was too much like me, she would put everyone else before herself.

"No goodbyes," Jacob said

"I won't go with you unless I get to say goodbye, you owe me that much," she shouted at her father

"I'm sorry Sarah, it's best we leave as soon as possible, Caleb needs to be in La Push right now," I said

Caleb made a gagging noise, "What's that smell?" he asked

Jacob and I looked at each other, we both extended our own enhanced senses and we could then smell it too, we knew what it was. Sarah figured it out too from our looks. Just then there was a knock at the door, both Sarah and I went for it, it was Alice she was holding Sarah's car keys out for her, "I brought your car back," she said

"Thanks," Sarah took the keys and kept on walking out the house towards the car,

"Didn't see that one coming," Alice muttered

"Then what good are you?" Jacob snapped, he and Alice glared at each other, I didn't have time for their differences today.

"Don't you dare!" I shouted after my daughter, "Sarah, get back in this house now!"

"No," she said, she climbed inside and slammed the car door shut and drove away

"Sorry," Alice mumbled

"It's not your fault," I grumbled

"Yes, it's exactly their fault," Jacob cried, "You warned Edward to stay away from our daughter and he ignored you,"

"I care about Sarah a lot," she said, "just like you, she's become like a sister to me, she makes Edward so happy, for the first time in over two decades he's smiling again,"

"That's not our problem," Jacob growled, "We had to get along in this town and Bella had one request for Edward just one and he couldn't even do that for her,"

"Alice, I don't want her involved with him after what he put me through," I said

"He learned his lesson, Bella," she said, "He won't make that mistake again,"

"I won't take that chance," I said, "Beside's its not the point, I'm not just talking about the fact I left. It's the whole picture, I know you aren't like others of your kind but its still dangerous to be around any of you, we didn't want to involve our children in any of this. We wanted to protect them and keep them safe. Caleb is fourteen years old, Alice, _fourteen_, he's barely a teenager and he has to go through all of this,"

"You can't wrap your children in cotton forever," Alice said

"Don't you think I know that?" I cried, "But the least I could do is try to keep these things away from them,"

"Your family is and always will be linked to this kind of stuff, it's in the Black bloodline," Alice said, "Your daughter was drawn to us and Edward was able to fall in love again, as impossible as that is for a vampire, it must be because she is so much like you, heck it was more than just coincidence that we happened to move to the same town again!"

"I don't care, Alice. I will always want what's best for my children,"

"Who are you to decide that? Sarah knows her own mind," Alice said

"I am her mother!" I cried Jacob squeezed my hand gently, giving me the strength and comfort I needed

"I think you better leave," he said to her in one of his most unfriendly tones

Alice was about to reply to that but her eyes widened and she gasped, I knew that look well, I feared that look, she was having a vision.

"We're not going to get there quick enough," she whispered

"Alice? What did you see?" I asked

"Sarah… she's in trouble, there's going to be an accident,"


	23. Accident

A/n: Wow, wow, wow! Okay first of all guys, please don't jump to conclusions and think you know what's going to happen and get pissed off and decide to start a boycott before you read it. Just remember one thing. I am not, nor have I ever been a fan of Edward... Obviously I can't please everyone, I'm I writer, I write what I feel and go with the flow! I am pleased that you guys have become so passionate about my story, really guys, it's amazing. I love to read everything you have to say in your reviews. Except this guy...

"Tired  
2009-12-06 . chapter 1

In a word, lame. Like most all Jacob and Bella fic. They simply aren't plausible.

T."

Really? I mean... really? Does this person not know what this site is all about? I have three words to say to you - Get A Life!

Anyways, here's the next chapter for you... and there are still a couple more to come so please don't quit on me yet. Enjoy! x

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Chapter Twenty Three – Accident

Time seemed to stand still and an overwhelming sense of dread filled me, oh god, oh god. "When?" I asked

"Any second now," Alice replied sombrely

"Jacob, get the car keys," I said, he started rummaging in his pocket

"We won't make it in time," Alice warned,

"You're taking me now, he's following in the car," I said

"It's too late, Bella, even I won't get us there in time,"

"Just get me there," I said, Alice nodded

"Where will she be, Alice?" Jacob asked

"About 6 miles down the small east exit road," Alice told him, "And hurry,"

Jacob nodded, he and Caleb climbed into the Police cruiser, he turned on the sirens and flew out of the drive and sped off down the road. Alice grabbed me and ran with me clinging to her we got there in no time at all but she was right we were too late, "Oh god," I cried, she had wrapped her car around a tree and she was crushed inside, "Sarah," I felt like I couldn't breathe. I wasn't an expert but I knew that this was bad, really bad.

"Call Carlisle now!" I screamed at Alice, but she was already on the phone, she spoke quickly into it and hung up, "Alice can you get her out?" I asked, her eyes were closed and it was obvious she was holding her breath, there was so much blood. She walked closer to the wreckage but a snarl automatically rose from her, she had to take a step back. "I'm sorry," she murmured, "I can't do it. I'll loose control," she hung her head ashamed.

Luckily Carlisle came swiftly with Edward following behind. They saw the wreckage immediately and didn't hesitate they ripped the roof off the car and Carlisle carried her out and laid her out on the road. I ran over to them but Carlisle warned me back, "Sarah, can you hear me? It's Carlisle," he said

Edward hovered over her a plain look of fear on his face, I remembered seeing him look at me that way once, back in that dance studio in Phoenix. "Carlisle?" I said, "Is she okay?"

Carlisle was checking her over he shook his head, "She's in a very bad state, Bella," he looked at me apologetically, I've seen that look so many times before on TV drama's, I couldn't breathe, I wrapped my arms around my chest tightly. It had been many years since I've felt that hole, but this time it was much worse, I was loosing my own daughter.

"No," I whispered, "No, NO!" I then screamed it

"I'm sorry, Bella..."

The police cruiser pulled up and Jacob and Caleb climbed out, "Is she okay?" he asked, I shook my head and I buried myself into him and wept, his eyes became frantic, "She needs a hospital, call an ambulance," he said to Carlisle

Carlisle shook his head, "She won't make it in time, even if we take her there, there's too much internal bleeding, her ribs are broken and they've puncture her lungs"

Sarah was panting, "I'm… sorry," she said, she was looking right at me

I released my hold on Jacob and knelt down at her side, I held her hand, it was so cold, "I love you, Sarah, oh god this is my fault," I sobbed

"I love you… too," she panted, "I'm… so… sorry, mom," tears streamed from her eyes which were loosing focus I could hear her heart rate slowing.

Edward's features were twisted, I'd never seen him look so tormented, "Carlisle," he said, "What can we do?" he begged

"There's only one thing now that can save her," he said and looked at me meaningfully, I looked at my dying daughter, and I looked at Edward it was obvious he was in love with her, he used to look at me the same way, as much as it angered me I knew he'd watch out for her. If Sarah was anything like how I used to be with Edward she'd want to be with him forever. I looked at my husband, Jacob, he was crying, "Save her, Carlisle," I told him

"Bella?" Jacob cried, "What are you doing?"

"Would you rather she died now?" I asked him, Jacob was shaking with grief and Caleb was sobbing, "Do it, save her," I told Carlisle again, "I trust you to look after my daughter," I said to Edward, "Do you love her? Like you loved me," Edward nodded slowly, I turned back to Carlisle, "Then do it, I don't care I'm not going to watch my daughter die,"

"She'll be a newborn vampire, she'll be out of control. You won't be able to see her again until she learns self control," Carlisle warned, "It could take a year maybe more,"

"My scent doesn't appeal to Vampires, remember," I muttered

"No, Bella, hold up, slow down, is this the only option?" Jacob asked,

"I'm afraid so," Carlisle nodded

"There's nothing else you can do to help her, Doc?"

"We could take her to the hospital but we might not make it in time, her heart is slowing, and... I'm afraid to say that it is unlikely she will recover from this, she's sustained to many injuries, its a miracle she's still alive now," he said

"You can tell that from your quick check up?" Jacob asked sceptically, "You could just be saying this to us, lying so you can make her like you!"

"No," Edward said, "this is the last thing I want for her,"

"I remember you almost allowing Bella to change," Jacob muttered

"I didn't want to risk killing her!" Edward growled at him

"Edward, Jacob, please," Carlisle said calmly. Carlisle was so patient, even I was growing annoyed with Jacob, "I've been doing this a very long time and the extra senses help," he explained "There isn't much anyone can do, it's a tragic fate but we can save her, here and now. We can take her away from here tonight and help her settle into this life, but you must decide now, her heart needs to keep beating,"

Jacob was torn, he didn't want his daughter to become a vampire, the things he hated most in this world, but he didn't want to watch her die either. I could see his internal debate written all over his face. She would become a vampire, but she would be a Cullen. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Okay," he said, "Do it,"

I sobbed on the ground, in the middle of the road, Jacob helped me up and I clung to him crying, Caleb hung back, glaring at the Cullen's, it must be some instinctive wolf thing. But we all looked away as Carlisle did what had to be done.

We could hear Sarah's screams as the venom coursed through her, I remembered all too well how excrutiating that pain is. I had felt it coursing through me not once but twice, both scars was still evident on my hand two interlocking bite marks from the doomed lovers. Edward had saved me from that fate, he sucked the venom out on both occassions, and I was forever changed but I have so much to be thankful of now because he'd done that for me, I just wish my daughter, my Sarah had that choice and didn't have to go through this.

"She'll be okay, now," Carlisle assured us, "I've seen venom work miracles, we'll rehabilitate her and look after her, we already see her as part of the family, Bella, just as we have always seen you. You know we'll look after her,"

I believed Carlisle, I trusted him. I looked at Edward, "Don't you ever let her go," I told him

"I won't," he promised and scooped a writhing Sarah in his arms, watching her like that was torture.

"We better get her out of here," Carlisle said, I walked over to Edward and picked up Sarah's hand and kissed it,

"Be happy," I whispered to her, "I love you,"

"What about this?" Jacob asked gesturing to the wreckage, "There's going to be an investigation, a missing body, a crashed car with our daughters DNA all over it,"

"I'll call Emmett and Jasper," Carlisle said, "They'll come take care of it,"

Jacob glowered at him, his face full of anger and pain, with that they sped away with our daughter with them.

I fell to my knees and sobbed, Jacob came down with me and wrapped his arms around me, "We shouldn't have stayed, it's my fault," I mumbled, "Did we do the right thing, Jake?"

"I don't know" he said, "I can't think straight," he said, "Should we have let her die instead?" we looked up at Caleb, Jacob placed a hand on his arm, he was shaking violently, "Cool it, Caleb," said softly to him,

"I want to go home now," Caleb whispered, "Back to La Push,"

"Me too," I said

Jacob nodded, "I don't like it here anymore either,"

"What do we tell everyone about Sarah?" I asked

"We can tell most of them the truth," Jacob sighed, "It's just your family we have to worry about,"

We were so upset that we didn't realise Alice was still there with us, "I sometime envy the humans ability to cry," she said, "I'm so sorry for your loss. But it won't be forever, she'll be fine, Sarah will be the same person she always was after she manages control," she promised us, "She'll just be a little more durable,"

"Alice will you keep in touch with us please, let us know how she's getting along?" I asked

Alice nodded, "Of course," she said, "I'm sorry, again," she said earnestly

We were joined then by Jasper and Emmett, they were carrying two large bottles of bleach, Emmett went over to the wreak and poured the bleach all over the blood. I looked at Jasper and saw how restrained he looked. It looked like he still had a tough time being around blood. When Emmett had poured away the last of the bleach, Jasper collected all the scrap that had come off the car in the accident and Emmett crushed the car into a square, they sped off again taking the crushed metal with them, there was no sign of the accident that was just there only seconds ago. Alice sent an apologetic look at us once again and then she took off following Emmett and Jasper.

I took my husbands hand and took my sons hot hand in the other, "Let's go home, back to La Push,"


	24. Fated?

A/n: Okay guys... I'm totally adding this chapter much sooner than I planned too simply because you're all despairing of the way you think I'm taking this story and you're upsetting me with the latest reviews :-( I urge you to remember that I'm not an Edward fan so please don't worry!!! So I hope you've not boycotted this just yet because this is the chapter where all is revealed :-P Not entirely sure if I'll be able to post the following chapter as quickly as I have been posting lately, I keep re reading it and I'm not entirely happy with it but in the mean time keep submitting your own little pieces of eternal sunshine, your reviews keep me going! Love you all. Enjoy x

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Chapter Twenty Three – Fated?

Destiny, fate… it means you have no choice, that your path is laid out in front of you and all you have to do is walk that long straight road. It means that whatever you do your future is sealed in concrete. I always thought it was rubbish, I had always believed in free will and coincidences. But after recent events so much has happened, too many coincidences to simply ignore the possibility of fate. So was it just one huge coincidence that we ended up in Green River being reunited with the Cullen's or was it fate?

It has been nearly 6 months since that tragic day when we lost our daughter to them. Our family back in La Push who knew the truth of what really happened to her were devastated, they didn't want Sarah to be a Vampire either, but they all agreed that they would have done the same thing, no one wished she'd rather be dead. At least with the Cullen's she wouldn't become a monster, I knew that and deep down, past all the hatred and the mortal enemies crap, the Quileute's knew that too. Sarah would be okay with them. But because my daughter was now a Cullen, there had become an automatic alliance between them and the Quileute's.

Embry and Seth had helped Caleb settle into wolf life, as Jacob's son he had the strongest lineage and automatically became the pack Alpha. He loved life as a wolf, I once asked him what he thought was the best part about it, I should have expected the answer he was just like his father, he said it was the speed.

Luckily for Caleb there was pretty much no danger to La Push from Vampires, regardless I still feared for my son's safety. It's a mother's job to worry, I'll never loose that, even for Sarah, as 'durable' as she is now.

When we came back from Green River, Charlie took up his retirement and made Jacob chief of police. He admitted life in Forks wasn't as exciting as Green River but he loved his job and he loved it even more now he believed entirely in the saying 'There's no place like home'

For those who wasn't in on the mythical world of 'werewolves' and vampires, the story for Sarah's disappearance was that she was travelling with a few friends she had met in Green River. To keep up the pretense Charlie and Renee would recieve a post card every now and then from a new and exciting destination. It wouldn't be very hard for the Cullen's to get hold of a postcard from distant locations.

As promised Alice had kept in touch, updating us with every little detail about Sarah she could. She told me that Sarah was graceful and beautiful. She had exceptional self control for a newborn, although her mood swings apparently proved to be a handful at times and Jasper often had to step in to help calm her, she got that from her father, Jacob was a bit of a hot head. Until she got a handle of that they wouldn't risk her near any humans yet.

But I wasn't like normal humans, my scent wasn't appealing to Vampires so Alice had sent me a plane ticket to Alaska to visit my daughter. I had to wait a while to see her because even though she wouldn't have wanted to taste my blood, I was still fragile and she was tempermental. But I finally convinced Alice (6 months later) that I'd be fine. I was shocked when I first took in Sarah's appearance, her eyes were the hardest thing to get used to. I used to look at my daughter and I would be looking back at my own eyes, but now they were bright orange. Alice told me newborns all had red iris's for a while and eventually the animal blood dilutes them into the golden colour the rest of the Cullen's eyes were. Sarah's eyes were half way in between, she'd not fed on a human.

Sarah was always beautiful to me but now she was stunning. She was so surprised when she saw me, Alice had not told her she'd invited me over. She wrapped me in a vice tight hug that cut off my circulation she was so relieved that I didn't make her thirsty, we spent the week together just talking, I was surprised to see how much of her personality had remained in tact I thought she'd loose herself a bit, but she was definitely still the same Sarah I loved. She told me all about life as a vampire, but she'd not once mentioned Edward, and during my visit I hadn't seen him once. I had asked her about it and she told me it was a little strange for him to be around me and her both together. It was an obvious lie, I didn't push her because like me, Sarah was stubborn. If she was hiding something she'd be hiding it for a reason and there would be a reason why she couldn't let me in on it. So I let it go. But it did begin to bug me.

The week with my daughter in Alaska went by too quickly Jacob met me from the airport and asked me every tiny detail about Sarah, I told him everything on the way home and as I unpacked when we got home. But Jacob didn't want to hear anything to do with any of the other Cullen's he basically see's them as the leeches who stole our daughter away. He acted cool about it in front of me, but Jacob couldn't lie like that I knew how he felt deep down.

There was no denying that we missed Sarah, but we were happy and we were where we belonged, amongst good friends and family.

"What are you thinking about?" Jacob asked when we were lying in bed later that evening, we were in the middle of a conversation but I had become lost in thought. I must have been silent longer than I thought I had been.

I looked at him and smiled, "Everything," I replied, "Just everything we've been through, it's making me wonder if there really is such thing as fate,"

Jacob looked amused, "Nah" he said, "Fate? There's no such thing, we make our own choices. We just run into real big coincidences along the way,"

I kissed him, "That's what I think too,"

"But I do believe in soul mates," he said, "I had no choice but to love you Bella, even in the beginning when you were broken up over Cullen and had no idea yourself how you felt about me, I tried so hard not to love you so much, but nothing would work,"

I kissed him again, "It's a good thing I wised up then," I said,

"So you never considered what your life would be like if you decided to go back to Edward when he came back for you?" he asked, "You'll probably be one of them, you told me once how much you had wanted that life,"

"I did, once," I admitted, "I used to wonder what it'll be like all the time, at least as a vampire I'd be beautiful"

"Bella, you _are_ beautiful" Jacob assured me, "You always were and you always will be," I couldn't imagine what road my life would have taken without Jacob and I didn't want to imagine it. Our life wasn't perfect, perfect didn't exist. I had wanted both of my children to grow and have children of their own I doubt Jacob or I would ever see Grandchildren now, Caleb probably wouldn't have them for many years to come since he wasn't aging for the moment and unfortunately Sarah would never be able to. But we had the closest thing to perfect though, we were happy and our children were happy... well at least I hoped Sarah was happy now. Really thinking about it, she was happy about seeing me this week but other than that it didn't seem like she was entirely happy. And where was Edward, really?

Suddenly Caleb burst through the door and we shot up in bed, "Caleb? What's wrong," I asked

"There's a leech nearby, I can smell it," he growled, we all looked around and picked up our senses we all heard it. It was climbing up the side of our house, Caleb was poised ready to change, "Get back," he warned us. We climbed out of bed and backed up against the wall and then there was a white knuckle appearing almost iridescent under the light of the full moon, it knocked on our bedroom window.

"Mom? Dad? Caleb? It's me," Sarah pulled herself up onto the window sill, she balanced on the small ledge without any difficulty, "Can you let me in?"

"God, Sarah! Ever heard of a door?" Caleb cried, "You scared us," he went over to the window and let her in, I noticed he checked the colour of her Iris's before he let her in.

"Hey mom, hey dad," she smile as she jumped to the floor landing without so much as a thud

For a moment I was too stunned to talk, "Sarah? What are you doing here?" I asked

"Is it safe for you to be here with Dad around?" Caleb folded his arms, "He's completely human now with a human scent,"

"I've got it under control," she glared at him, oh great, I thought, this sibling rivalry had just got a little more intense than you'd expect to see in the average household. "My god, Caleb, don't you ever bath. You have _the_ worst wet dog smell?"

"I'm a wolf you stupid leech," he growled

"Guys, can it!" Jacob cried, "Sarah, what _are_ you doing here? Why aren't you in Alaska?" I noticed Jacob couldn't take his eyes away from Sarah's orange eyes. He was having difficulty adjusting to them like I did.

We heard the sound of the other wolves in the distance, "That'll be them smelling you," Caleb muttered, "I'm going to go let them know it's just you," he left the room

"Sarah? Is everything okay?" I asked my daughter,

"I couldn't take it there anymore," she said, "The Cullen's are great and everything they've been really good to me, but after spending this week with you mom, I realised I missed you guys too much, I wanted to come home."

"You want to stay here? With us? Sarah are you sure? It could be so dangerous for you, what if you loose it?" I asked

"I've got myself under control I'm okay around humans, you've seen that for myself. I've started tai chi and breathing exercises that are helping me with my temper and I'll have you guys to help me, luckily Dad's got just enough of a wet dog smell on him to put me off, otherwise living here will be difficult. But that just might be living with Caleb, his scent is rubbing off on you. And I'll do it, you know, I'll live here among the stink to be with you guys again, as a family."

"You'll long out live us, Sarah, what will you do then?" I asked

She shrugged, "I haven't got it all worked out yet, I just had to come home," she said

"Don't the others know you're here?" Jacob asked

"The Cullen's knew I wanted to come. Of course they tried to talk me out of it but they knew that they couldn't force me to stay."

"What about Edward?" I asked

"He's the reason I left," she admitted, "I couldn't take living there anymore because I was breaking their family apart. Edward's hardly around, they won't say it, well Rosalie will, but they blame me,"

"What's going on Sarah?" I asked

"I'm just... not in love with him,"


	25. Bridges

A/n: Hey yaaaaay I'm in your good graces, I actually thought I'd be flamed for not letting Edward get a happy ending and then suddenly I was getting people upset when they thought he WAS going to get a happy ending ha ha! Oh this pleases me! Thanks for being so awesome guys, like I said in one of my previous notes its truly amazing how passionate you are about my story I really do appreciate it. In my last notes I mentioned how I wasn't entirely happy with this chapter so I've been re writing it and because of the re write it looks like there maybe more chapters coming than I had predicted lol so I better get writing up some new chapters fast so I can continue with the speedy updates! I'm just going to hope that this re write prooves successful like the last one. So please read, review and most importantly enjoy x

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Chapter Twenty Five - Bridges

"I'm just... not in love with him,"

This surprised me, "Sarah, we thought you...?"

"Yeah well so did I," she said, "But after I changed, I didn't see Edward in the same light as I had done before. I love him like a brother now but he sees me as something more, he keeps looking at me and all he's seeing is you, I still don't think he's over you mom, and I don't need a relationship like that, it's just… wrong."

"So he hadn't moved on at all?" Jacob muttered, "He was using Sarah as your replacement," he turned to me then. If Jacob were still able to 'wolf out' he'd be quivering right now.

"Daddy," Sarah wrapped her arms around her father, "I'm okay, really. Oh and this is okay," she said talking about her hugging her father, "You've got too much of Caleb's scent on you for this to be unbearable. I'm so relieved." She smiled but Jacob seemed uncomfortable in Sarah's cold, solid embrace, it would take him a while to get used to it but I couldn't tell whether it was because he was still angry or not, his muscles were always tense when he was angry, "I just want to come home and live with my family again," she whispered

"It's not going to be that simple, Sarah, things can't just go back to the way they were before, I mean, are you strong enough to handle being around people in La Push, being around the pack or even going back to school and finishing your senior year?" I told her

"I think so, I'll keep at my exercises they help with my temper, but my self control around humans, providing I _can _keep my temper in check is good," she explained

"We'll need to talk to the Elders and the pack about this," Jacob muttered, "They won't like it," Jacob was now one of the Tribe leaders, technically his father is chief of the Quileute's and when he passes away Jacob will have that authority. Even though now the decisions of the tribe are based on what all the council elders say.

"We want you to stay, honey, we wouldn't want it any other way, no matter what you are you are still our baby girl, but you _are_ a vampire, Sarah it's not going to be easy, people are going to be extremely uncomfortable around you, they may not like it and it'll be hard on you," I continued

"I understand that," Sarah nodded,

"Okay" I sighed, "Well we shall talk more about this in the morning, darling, your room is still there for you, but right now I think sleep would be good for everyone," Sarah cleared her throat and I almost slapped myself for being stupid, "Of course, you don't sleep do you?" she shook her head

"Don't worry about me, I'm not going far, I may go for a hunt or something, like you said, we'll talk more in the morning," she smiled

"Sarah, are you… happy this way?" Jacob asked, "On the day of the accident, did we make the wrong choice for you?"

"Oh, god no!" she cried, "Daddy, the Cullen's did save me, I'm still here, it's not so bad, really,"

I wrapped my arms around my daughter and planted a kiss on her cheek, "No matter what happens, I'm always, always here for you, Sarah, both your father and I, we love you,"

Both Sarah and I looked to Jacob and he smiled and wrapped an arm around her waste and kissed the top of her head, "Of course we love you," he said, "This is just a lot to take in for me though, Sarah, so please be patient with me while I get used to it,"

"Sure," Sarah nodded,

"Now, go... hunt." He told her and forced a smile for her, she nodded understanding how much he was trying to accept her for who she is now, and took off out the window "Oh and away from La Push, there's still a treaty here remember," he called after her

Jacob closed the window and we both sank back onto our bed, curling up together in our usual spot. I could tell Jacob was still angry about Edward still being in love with me. I could feel his muscles tense as he lay beside me. It was an automatic reaction for him now, as a pack brother, he became so used to having to tense up to stop himself from shaking and phasing into a wolf that the habit had stuck with him now. I pulled his arms further around me, wrapping myself up in him as much as I could hoping to help him calm down. "I'm with you, Jacob," I murmured, "I love you, you have nothing to worry about,"

"That's not why I'm mad, Bella," he replied, "I'm mad because our daughter nearly died because he used her, that she's now a vampire all for nothing. How could anyone be so selfish?" Jacob was right, I hadn't looked at it that way before, but he was completely right. I used to believe that Edward was once the most selfless person I knew but as time went by I saw that everything he did revolved around me and me only, not caring about the consequences for anyone else. "…And I'm afraid for her," he continued, "I'm scared that she's not going to be accepted here, that she won't feel at home anymore or feel like this is her real family anymore,"

I turned to face him and I placed a small kiss on his lips, "We won't let that happen," I told him, of course I couldn't guarantee that, Jacob knew that as well, but saying it made us both feel better, we were still united as a family first and foremost and we'll both do whatever it take for Sarah to feel at home.

It was a long while later before I heard the most comforting sound in the world to me, the sound of Jacob's deep even breathing that slowly fell into a light snore, I soon fell asleep to those sounds.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes and looked over in the bed beside me Jacob was already gone, I could sense him downstairs. I climbed out of bed, pulled on my dressing gown and padded downstairs to the kitchen where Sarah was stood over the stove cooking breakfast, Jacob was leaning against the kitchen counter and they were talking. "Morning, mom," Sarah called with out looking around,

Jacob looked up and came over to me, wrapping his arms around me and kissed me, "Good morning," he spoke into my ear,

"Good morning." I smiled, "What's all this?" I asked Sarah

She finally turned to me and I noticed that her eyes were slightly less orange this morning and more gold, "Making breakfast for you, Dad and Caleb. I don't eat this kind of food anymore it's just that I have a lot of time on my hands these days," she said, I saw on the stove she was cooking what used to be her favourite breakfast, she'd made us pancakes with sausage, bacon and egg. "It's weird that this repulses me now," she commented, "Not even the smell is appealing to me anymore,"

"Yeah… that is weird," Caleb muttered as he returned through the front door, he turned to his dad, "Told the boys Sarah's home, they've agreed with my decision to call a council meeting, they've gone to round everyone up," he said

"Thanks son," Jacob replied, "I was going to do that myself, it is in everyone's best interest to know Sarah's come home,"

"So she's staying then?" Caleb muttered, "This shall be interesting," he said with raised eyebrows

I couldn't understand Caleb's behaviour, Sarah and Caleb used to be so close, "Caleb, Sarah is still your sister,"

Sarah plated up three breakfasts and put them on the table where all four of us took a seat in the same places we sat every night for dinner before anything was different, I smiled at that small action. Some things never change. "You made me breakfast? Why?" Caleb queried

"Think of it as an olive branch," Sarah said, "We're brother and sister and even though things are different now I want us to get along, we've both got a long future ahead of us,"

Caleb looked down at his plate, "Sarah, it's not that I don't want to. You just don't realize how hard this is for me," he murmured,

"Well you don't exactly smell so hot to me either _dog_!" she spat, but as soon as she said she covered her mouth, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. These mood swings are crazy,"

Caleb sighed "Sarah, being around you is… difficult. I know what happened to you isn't your fault…" I could tell he was struggling to find words for it,

"I understand what Caleb is trying to say, Sarah, I remember how it feels, as a wolf being around you right now, every instinct inside of him is telling him that you are the enemy and it's hard to ignore that,"

"I will try, you're still my sister, sort of… you're a complete freakshow, but your still Sarah. I'm sorry if I end up snapping at you all the time it's going to be hard," he made his peace by picking up a fork and started eating the breakfast she made, he'd accepted her olive branch. Things weren't yet completely okay between them but they were building a bridge towards it. And I knew they'd work it out in the end.

That was when Embry walked in, he hadn't aged a day since the wolf gene had kicked in for him. He'd not yet found his reason to quit. He eyed Sarah carefully and then his eyes flickered between Jacob, myself and Sarah. I could tell what he was thinking, how were we safely sat so comfortably close to her? "The elders are gathering together at noon at the usual spot," he said trying to sound as casual as possible but I could see how difficult it was for him, Embry had been part of my extended family for many, many years and I loved him dearly, and he loved Sarah as a niece, he was even her God fatherm, it wasn't easy for him to see her like this.

"Hi Embry," she smiled at him, he nodded stiffly back and forced a smile.

"Sarah, it's good to see you," he said,

Jacob rose from his seat and pulled Embry to one side, "Sarah, Caleb, can you give us some privacy please?" he asked, Sarah nodded and swiftly left the room followed by Caleb who carried his breakfast away with him, not before tipping the rest of my plate onto his.

"Embry, aside from Quil, you are my oldest friend," Jacob began, "I'm going to need your help with this, bro, Sarah just wants to come home and be with her family and this is going to be tough on everyone I just need to know you're on our side on this,"

"Jake, look, like you said I'm you're my oldest friend so I'll be frank with you, I've always seen Sarah as family, you know that, but this… I don't know what to make of it yet, but you're practically my brother so I will stand by you and I know Quil's got your back too. But I need to warn you that nobody and I mean nobody is happy about this, have you even begun to think of the repercussions with this?"

"I know it could be dangerous…" Jacob said

"Dangerous, that's not the only problem with her being here Jake, with her living among our people," Embry interrupted, "You should know, think about it. What happens to this tribe when vamps begin to hang around?"

"Oh god," I whispered,

"That right, you got it, Bella," he said then turned back to Jacob, he'd also figured it out but Embry said it anyway, "There will be a rise in the wolf population here in La Push,"


	26. Trial

A/n: Hey guys this should have been finished by now but my head keeps spewing out more and more ideas and I get confused on which ones I should go with… anything I think I've got the ending in my head now but anyway here's the next chapter for you, hope you like. Please keep submitting those fabulous reviews! Much love! Enjoy x

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Chapter Twenty Six – Trial

This was the first time a Quileute council meeting had felt like we were going on Trial. The Elders consisted of my father-in-law Billy Black, he was the oldest one left now, Old Quil had died about ten years ago, Sam, Paul, Jared, Quil, and the remaining members of the wolf pack were all Elders in the council now, Leah was the only female elder and then of course there was Jacob.

We all sat around a large circular table in what used to be Jacob's old garage. When Jacob had moved out to live with me the garage space was made wheelchair friendly and was transformed into the meeting place of the tribe elders.

"Can we begin?" Billy asked, "Where's Seth Clearwater?"

"He's doing a final patrol he said to go on without him, he'll be with us soon," Embry informed him.

"Okay, well he's not here now so he will have to miss the vote." he then looked up at everyone and raised the pitch of his voice when he spoke again, "We come here today to discuss the matter of Sarah Black," he said drawing in everyone's attention, "We all know what a weight this is on our hearts, Sarah was one of us and her transformation was sad news to us all. She returns to La Push a tame vampire wishing to live among us like she did before. We need to consider this thoroughly it is not a decision we should make lightly. First we shall invite her in and let her speak for herself and then we'll handle this delicate situation with a vote," It shocked me to hear Billy speaking about Sarah in such a cold manner, it should be a no brainer for him, she was his granddaughter. "Sarah you may enter," Billy called to her, she was stood waiting outside. She walked through the door and the first thing everyone looked at, were her eyes. Already judging whether or not she had fed on a human.

She looked to me and Jacob for support, I smiled at her and nodded, "Go ahead, sweetie," a few faces looked at me with distaste but I ignored them.

"Hello, everyone," she said, "I know how you must all feel about my being here. I'm sorry about that. What happened to me, it wasn't my fault. But I've lived with the Cullen's for a while and I've learnt control. I feed on animals, not humans. I will admit I have a bit of a temper which I am learning to control but apart from that you have no reason to fear me, I just want to be home with my family. La Push is the only real home I've ever known and I don't know why but still feel I belong here as crazy at that sounds. I implore you all to let me live here in peace. That is all I have to say," she took a few steps back and I closed my eyes for a brief few seconds praying that everything would work out alright.

Quil was the first to stand, "It's a difficult decision to make, she could be dangerous for us, but I firmly believe she has no ill intent being here. This was once her home and if she wants to be here again then I have no problem with it."

Embry was next, "I'm with Quil. We've got a pack to protect the people just in case."

"Yeah but what good is the packs protection after she snaps and kills a bunch of people?" Paul rose, "I'm sorry but she's a leech now and we can't trust it living among us, so I say no,"

"Paul's right" Jared said, "I'm sorry, Jake, it's got to be a no."

"It's such a tough decision," Sam said, "She's clearly tame in the presence of humans but then again she admitted she's got a problem with her temper. Like Quil said, I believe she's here of no ill intent but with Sarah around the pack will more than double in number, my son, Micah has just turned 20, it's not too late for him, and Luke is 16 he'll be sure to change, but I don't want either of them to go through that. I want them to grow up and live normal, safe lives so I'm going to be selfish here and put my own children first. I'm saying no,"

Leah was just looking at Sarah in disgust, "Forget it," she muttered "no way,"

Caleb stood next, I hoped he'd stand by his sister, "I should probably be the last person to say yes, I'll have to live with her and breath in that disgusting vamp stink all day. But Sarah's my sister and I love her, I can see she's not dangerous so yes, Sarah I want you to stay,"

Jacob stood next, "You all know my vote and you all know why. Sarah's my baby girl no matter what. She stays."

Everyone then looked at Billy and I held my breath, it was down to him to break the tie, four no's and four yes's. He looked at Sarah and then to us with a sad look in his eyes, "I'm sorry, I really am." He said, those words made my heart sink

"Dad… what the hell?" Jacob cried and slammed a fist down on the table

"I've got to think of the entire community here and so I cannot be selfish with my answer, Firstly I'd like to eloborate on Sam's point, we don't need our latest generation to change just because of Sarah, if there was a way to keep them in the dark about all this until it is absolutely necessary then that is what we shall do. They need to grow up and live normal lives. And secondly Sarah is still a danger to us all. Tame or not. She can't stay, she needs to go back to the Cullen's and surround herself with her own kind. She's technically still a newborn, she couldn't possibly have _that_ much control, so I'm not going to risk lives if one word could make her snap "

"No you can't do this, you can't send her away!" I got to my feet

"Bella, your emotional ties to her are blinding you," Billy said, "Can you not see what a catastrophe this could be? I'm sorry, but you have no vote in this council anyway,"

"How dare any of you turn her away?!" I yelled, "She has been a part of our family from the day she was born and I don't just mean the Black family. We're all family here, all of us. You have all had a part in raising her as Jacob and I have helped with your children." I started sobbing now, "Look at her, she's my baby. What if this was one of your children stood before you? Would you turn them away?"

"Mom, please. Don't do this," Sarah came over to me and wrapped her arms around me, "It's fine, really, I'll leave. I'll go back to the Cullen's in Alaska, don't worry about me. It's just that I would just rather spend some of my everlasting life with my real family. My sense of time just isn't the same anymore, it feels like I won't have much time left with you at all," I couldn't stop sobbing, that hole in my chest was slowly creeping open again.

That was when Seth entered the room, "What did I miss?" he asked

"Sarah's got to go," Paul said, "We voted, and she's out,"

I pulled out of my daughters arms and Seth saw Sarah for the first time as a vampire, "Don't I get a vote," he asked,

"You weren't here, the decision has been made," Billy said,

I sobbed harder and Jacob pulled me into him, but he never took his eyes away from his fathers, I've only seen Jacob give that cold stare to one person before, and that was Edward. "Don't be like that, Jacob, this is what's best for the tribe," Billy told him

"For the record I would have said yes," Seth muttered, he'd always loved Sarah, he was a good friend to her growing up.

"It still wouldn't have mattered," Billy muttered, "If there's a tie the decision is then down to me,"

He looked back at Sarah and shrugged sadly. But just then something in his face changed, his eyes flickered and he was looking at Sarah differently, really looking at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. Sarah looked to me with a confused expression and looked back at Seth. He smiled at her, "Wow," he breathed,

Seth? And Sarah? My Sarah?

No one missed the way he began looking at her, the no-voters groaned and the rest of us hid our smiles, "Congratulations, Seth." Paul muttered, "You've just doomed the tribe,"

Seth barely registered Paul's snide comments he began moving slowly towards, Sarah,

"The vampire stays," Billy sighed and then wheeled himself out muttering something like "God help us all," Sam, Jared and Paul followed him out. Leah shot Seth a disgusted look and then she too left.

"What happened?" Sarah asked me, "Why'd he change his mind?"

Seth smiled brightly at Sarah and she smiled back, she always had a little crush on Seth because he was the only one of our extended family that ever treated her as a grown up and spoke to her frankly whereas everyone else saw Sarah as their surrogate niece and treated her like a young girl. Embry and Quil threw their arms over his shoulders and laughed, "Congratulations man," Quil laughed patting him on the chest, "You've just imprinted,"

"What?" Seth cried

"And on a vampire. Way to go," Embry laughed, "Just hold you're breath when you're making out,"

"Imprinted?" Sarah asked

"Yeah it's the only reason why they would allow you to stay," Jacob narrowed his eyes,

"What the hell does 'imprinted' mean?" Sarah asked

"Imprinted? How do you know?" Seth asked, his eyes not moving away from my daughter.

"Try taking your eyes away from her for a start," Quil laughed, "We all saw the way you're face brightened and that puppy dog looked appeared on your face."

"You begun to look at her as if you were seeing the sun for the very first time my friend," Embry added

"How? How can a wolf imprint on a vamp?" Caleb asked

"Can people please stop talking nonsense around me?" Sarah cried, "What's imprinting and why has it allowed me to stay here?"

"Honey, imprinting is how the wolves find their mate, their soul mates. Seth obviously wasn't drawn to you when you were human but now you're a vampire…"

"Soul mate?" she sank into one of the chairs around the big table, "Me and Seth?"

If any of the pack were to have imprinted on my daughter I'm glad it was Seth, he was the most, kind hearted person I'd ever known. I felt like I owe him a huge debt now, because of Seth my daughter could stay with us and that made me very happy. But I was confused, Caleb's question still stood, how could a wolf imprint on a vampire? There must be a reason for everything. It just proved that Sarah belonged here. Maybe it was because she was still a Quileute by birth, actual birth not rebirth. We explained to Sarah why being imprinted on by Seth was such a big deal and the reason why they allowed her to stay because of it.

"Seth?" Caleb asked, "Is it not difficult for you to be around her? Don't you have alarm bells ringing in your head?"

Seth looked at Sarah and Sarah looked back at Seth, they looked deeply into each others eyes, "Not at all, it's weird because I know it should be." He took Sarah's hand, "But this feels like the easiest thing I've ever done,"

"You two better prepare for a lot of hate coming your way," Jacob sighed, "It may not be forever but for now at least. We've just created a divide in the community and we need to show them that there's no reason for it," I looked at the sad look on Jacob's face, he was still hurt by his father's betrayal. I understood why Billy said what he said but I was angry with him, they need time to see that Sarah isn't going to cause a problem. I believe that. The only downside to this is the fact that the wolf population will rise. But call me selfish, I didn't care if it meant that my daughter could stay.

I looked at the joined hands of Seth and Sarah and I slipped my arm around Jacob's waist, he automatically draped an arm over my shoulders. Whatever happens now we'd all face it together.


	27. Pangs

A/n: Heeeeey sorry I left it so long this time, I've come down with the female equivalent of 'manflu' so I've been uninspired in my weakened state. I hope I'm all better for Saturday coz I have a big night out planned to celebrate my 23rd birthday... gah 8 days to gooooooooo!!! I'm still a little rough around the edges so I hope its not affected my writing!!! MAJOR APOLOGIES if it has, I really should use a beta but I'm too independant for that me thinks. Anyway here's the next chapter... the plot thickens! Enjoy x

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Chapter Twenty Seven - Pangs

A few weeks had passed and life hadn't got any easier for Seth and Sarah, the council members were infuriated with the risen number of wolves including some of their own children. Sam's boys Micah and Luke were now in the pack as were Jared and Kim's 13 year old son Tristan, Leah was a single mother to 12 year old Jonah who phased for the first time the other day, and also part of the pack now were Paul and Rachel's 15 year old twin boys, my nephews, Jack and Daniel. Yes their names were originally a pun from Paul regarding the Whiskey drink but Rachel looked at her sons when they were born and thought those names suited so they stuck. And then three other boys from the tribe were now part of the pack, 17 year olds Will and Nathanial and Caleb's best friend from school 14 year old Tyson. So including the already existing members there were now eleven wolves in the pack, Embry helped Caleb with his duties as pack alpha as he was second in command. Caleb was the alpha now with the strongest lineage but he didn't have a lot of experience in leadership, so he would turn to his god father Embry for support.

Sarah was over trying to fit in, I think, she was going out of her way to please people. Trying her hardest to prove herself. She didn't really need to, the wolves themselves didn't mind her being here. They were sometimes volatile towards her, but they couldn't help that it was just a natural reaction being around a vampire so much, it was their natural enemy. But they shared a pack mind now and saw her the way Caleb saw her, like a sister and they could do no wrong against the object of a brothers imprint. What hurts one will hurt them all. As for Sam, although he is unhappy that his sons have been dragged into this life, he had softened towards her. He knew Sarah means no harm. And Emily never saw a problem with her being here.

Obviously the majority of the La Push didn't know about the existence of Vampires or People that can turn into wolves, the only people who was having a problem with Sarah being here now were Paul, Jared, Leah Clearwater and Billy Black.

Leah Clearwater was no longer speaking to her brother, she called him a fool to imprint on a 'leech', their fall out upsets Seth. He'll see her out on the street and he'll try and make conversation but she'll keep walking. His nephew, Jonah, can't even convince Leah to come around. I wondered what Sue would think if she were still alive. And as for the relationship between Jacob and his dad, things were tense, they weren't talking much these days and when they did speak they argued and it wasn't for the lack of trying on Jacob's part. Billy was being difficult, I didn't realize how strongly Billy felt. I knew his intentions were in the right place, but surely he could see Sarah wouldn't harm anyone.

One day I had asked Jacob if he though it would be better for us all to move, but he reminded me of the key point that Seth had to stick with the pack. Sarah's presence has populated a huge rise in Wolf activity and after going through all we had to keep her in La Push it would be unfair on the tribe to pack up and leave now. Besides we couldn't separate Seth from Sarah now. That brought me to my next point, how exactly did a wolf manage to imprint on a vampire?

"Wasn't the purpose of an imprint to find the perfect mate, to breed the best possible children?" I asked, "Sarah can't have children,"

"That was only a theory," Jacob said, "Besides it's a lot more than that, I didn't love you just to produce the perfect children." He laughed, "We are a perfect match in everyway. I love everything about you Bella,"

I smiled and felt my cheeks heat up meaning I must have been blushing, "But the wolves exist to kill vampires, it doesn't make sense for him to imprint on one,"

"I have my own little theory about that, of course we'll never know for certain. But I think it's because vampire or not, Sarah is still Quileute, she was born with the wolf gene. Leah was able to transform, Sarah may have been able to… if things were different," he trailed off. I don't think Jacob would ever get over what happened to Sarah because of Edward's obsession for me. And in all honesty I couldn't blame him.

A few days later, after I had got home from work I stepped into the living room to find Seth and Leah curled up on the couch, Jacob was sat in the arm chair and Caleb was spread across the floor doing homework. "Hey," I greeted everyone, they all murmured their various greetings in return, I walked over to the armchair and planted a kiss on Jacob's lips he gave me a cheeky grin and surprised me by pulling me into his lap, we giggled like we were teenagers again, Caleb groaned at our behavior, but then, all at the same time, Sarah, Seth and Caleb looked to the front door. Caleb started a low growl from his chest.

"Caleb, cool it," Seth warned him

Jacob and I sensed her then, I remembered her scent well. What was Alice Cullen doing here? There was a tiny rap at the door and Sarah went to answer it, no words were exchanged between them, Alice just swiftly entered the living room, her face was grave, worried even. "Alice, what's wrong?" I asked

"I need your help, Bella." She said, "Edward, he's gone to the Volturi, he wants to die,"

"The what?" I asked

"In Italy there are a group of vampires which are, I suppose, the closest thing we have to a royal family, their job is make sure the secrecy of our existence is kept safe. He decided to end his life, he's miserable. We can't let him kill himself,"

"Why is he going to kill himself?" I cried

"He's still crazy for you Bella, he thinks his life is pointless without you,"

"And why would the Volturi kill him?" Sarah asked, Alice shot her a look as if to say it was all her fault.

"They would it he makes a scene, show his nature to the public, make a spectacle of himself. If he did that, they would kill him,"

"Why should we help him after everything he's done to us?" Jacob muttered

I placed a hand on his arm, "Jacob, I have to help him," I said, deep down I still felt a huge pang of guilt for being able to move on when he couldn't, I didn't want him to kill himself because of me. Again Edward was being selfish. "Why does he want to place this huge guilt on my shoulders? Doesn't he know how I'd feel knowing that he's killing himself over me? Doesn't he know what he'll do to his family if he succeeds? Alice, why do you need me, why can't you go after him?"

"He's not going to listen to anyone else, he'll act more rash once he hears us coming. Look its up to you Bella, he's on a plane, on his way to Italy right now. It's a possibility that the Volturi will kill us all so it's dangerous,"

"Bella, no way, you're not going," Jacob pulled me back

"I'll go, he won't hear me coming," Sarah said

"But it's not you he's crying over." Alice said, "I'm sorry Sarah, we truly believed that Edward had moved on and loved you, just like he loved Bella. I don't understand how we missed it, he even surprised Jasper, Jasper thinks he must have been deluding himself. But you, the second you were changed you saw through it."

"I'm going with you, you might need me," Sarah said,

"Fine, but Bella has to be there, it's the only way I can see it working,"

"I'm going too," Seth and Jacob said simultaneously

"Don't even think about it dog breath!" Alice cried, "Do you realize what the Volturi will do to you? They'll kill you without a second thought, they hate werewolves!"

"We're not werewolves," Seth informed her,

"You think they'll care about that? They won't ask questions they'll see werewolf and they'll kill you," she then turned to Jacob, "They'll look at you and see lunch, you'll hinder more than help anyway." She then turned back to me, "The next flight is in forty five minutes if we're to go, we've got to go now,"

I turned to my husband and I pressed my forehead to his shoulder and wrapped his arms around me, "Bella," he whispered, "I'm begging you please don't do this, you've got nothing to feel guilty about. Nothing,"

I looked up and into his beautiful dark eyes, I saw how deep his feelings ran for me. I could see a world of warmth in those eyes. And I looked into them possibly for the very last time. "I love you," I told him, "More than anything," I reached on my toes to kiss him. "I will come back to you, I promise. But I have to do this. I don't think I'll be able to live with myself knowing what he did because of me,"

"How selfish can one person be?" Jacob muttered, "You'd better come back to me, Bella Black," he pulled me into him once more and kissed me on the neck.

I ran upstairs and grabbed mine and Sarah's passports, packed a bag of the most minimal essentials, I looked on my dresser and saw the little silver bracelet with the tiny wooden wolf charm Jacob had given me when we first got together, it was my good luck charm. I fastened it around my wrist and picked the bag up. When I got downstairs Sarah was saying goodbye to Seth, "Stay safe," he told her, they kissed. I suppose Seth had a little less to worry about since Sarah was practically impenetrable. But I could see he didn't want to let her go.

"Come on people, we've got to go now," Alice flitted to the car and we followed her. Sarah was behind me a moment ago and now she was already closing the door in the the back seat of the car as Alice started the engine. Jacob grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"Please, Bella, don't go," he begged, I dropped my bag to the floor and I felt tears rolling down my cheeks I wrapped my arms around him and held as like it could be the last time.

"I have to do this," I whispered

"Why?!" he cried, "What if this is them manipulating you? He doesn't deserve your help! Or what if you do find yourself in real danger, I can't loose you." Jacob looked up to the sky which I knew meant he was trying not to cry. I knew that man inside and out.

"I love you," I told him and ran to the passenger side of the car where Alice was sat tapping the steering wheel impatiently. "Always," I climbed into the car and before I finished closing the door, Alice was already in 3rd gear.


	28. Choice

A/n: Thanks to you all for the reviews. I know there were one or two bloopers in the last chapter and they're bugging me that they're there. I did warn you I wasn't very well! Oh well! I tried to get this chapter up before the weekend but unfortunately I didn't get chance to finish it before I went home from work, normally I would email it to myself but it was a Friday and I was rushing to get out of work. It's only a short chapter but we're nearing the end of the story now. So here's it is. Enjoy x

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Chapter Twenty Eight - Choice

As we were approaching the airport there was a buzz in my pocket. I pulled out my cell phone and read the text Jacob had sent me.

_Bella, it's not too late to turn back. Please don't endanger your life for this, what more can you do to save him? _

I twiddled the phone between my fingers and kept silent even though I could feel Alice's golden eyes on me. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes to think. All I could see in my mind was my family. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. What was I doing?

We finally pulled up at the airport, Alice rushed us into the terminal, we swiftly checked in and ran down to the departure gate. They were on the final call for our flight. When we got to the desk, my heart was racing. Alice handed over her boarding pass and flashed her fake passport at the attendant and she stopped and watched as Sarah did the same. It was my turn next I passed over the boarding pass, flashed my passport and turned to the others and froze. I closed my eyes and all I could see was Jacob. The way his eyes were pleading with mine not to leave, "I can't do this," I whispered, I took a few steps back.

"Bella, we have to stop him, I won't let Edward kill himself," Alice glared at me

I shook my head, "That's not my problem anymore," my heart missed a beat, I didn't want him to kill himself but wasn't going to play to Edward's childish behavior, I wasn't going to be a slave to it anymore. "Alice, I'm not prepared to risk my life for him especially after what happened to Sarah,"

"Mom, I told you I'm okay with it," Sarah whispered

"That's not the point," I said, "He forced himself into your world because of this obsession with me, and I will never forgive him for that,"

"Excuse me ma'am?" the flight attendant interrupted, "This gate needs to close, are you going to board the flight?" she looked at me

"No," I said firmly, "Alice take Sarah with you. She can get close enough without him hearing her, maybe she can convince him. But I can't and I won't."

"Bella, he will only listen to you!" Alice cried,

I ignored her and turned to my daughter, "Do what you can," I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her cheek, "I love you, come back to me soon," she nodded and I turned around and started to walk away

"Bella!" I heard Alice cry, I wasn't going to be a victim of guilt, I closed my eyes to see Jacob's face. "Bella!"

I heard the flight attendant warn Alice that if she doesn't get on the plane now the flight will leave without her. I knew Alice would want to drag me onto that flight but she wouldn't risk exposure.

I walked out of the departure lounge and back into the main terminal. I stepped outside into the cold air and climbed into the first taxi waiting outside, I gave the driver my address and sunk back into the cold vinyl seat and smiled knowing I'd done the right thing. I finally felt free of him. I couldn't wait to see Jacob again. Another buzz in my pocket. I pulled out my cell phone and read the new message from Jake.

_Bella, I love you._

I wanted to reply and tell him I'm coming home but I wanted to see the look on his face when he saw me again. I pushed the phone back into my pocket and twiddled my thumbs.

The taxi was driving far too slow for my liking but we finally pulled up outside my house, I paid the driver and stepped out of the cab. The front door was already opening and Jacob looked surprised, "Bella?" I smiled and ran into his arms, he caught me and pulled me into his embrace. He kissed the top of my head several times, "Oh, Bella!" he cried, "You came back?"

I looked up at him, "I couldn't do it," I told him, he kissed my lip lightly, "I kept closing my eyes and seeing you. I don't want to risk my life for him,"

"Has Sarah still gone?" he asked

I nodded, "Sarah will be alright, maybe she'll talk sense into him,"

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then it's not our problem anymore,"

Jacob held me a while longer in silence before saying, "I thought I'd never see you again,"

"I know, and I don't think I could stand for that" I murmured, we pulled apart and he slipped his arm around my waist and led me inside. "Where are the boys?" I asked

"Patrolling, gone to tell the others what happened," he answered, he pulled me into the couch and we curled up together, the fire was on, and we were alone. There was a cozy silence. I buried myself in Jacob. Wanting every part of me to be touching a part of him, it was one of those times where I couldn't get close enough to him if I tried. He seemed to feel the same. He was pulling me closer. Neither of us wanted to think about what could have happened to me if I had decided to go to Italy. I hoped Sarah could help Edward. I didn't want him to kill himself but I wasn't prepared to die to save him, especially if he didn't want to be saved. Jacob was right, I'd already done so much for him and if he was still this way there is absolutely nothing more I could do.

Jacob tilted my head up and kissed me sweetly, we adjusted ourselves on the couch until he was lying on top of me. He roamed my body with his warm hands and kissed me in all my favorite places. I needed to be closer still to him and wanted the same thing. He lifted his shirt over his head and helped me pull my sweater off. He kissed along my breast bone and started to move his lips expertly across my body, knowing exactly where and how I liked it after many years of being together. Jacob climbed off me, I almost cried out in disappointment but he was giving me a cheeky smile and held out his hand for me, he helped me up and led me up the stairs to our bedroom.


	29. Suffering

A/n: Apologies for the longer wait this time. Christmas and New Year was crazy, not to mention I turned 23 on Christmas day BOO! I'm getting older I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays whatever they did. You guys have been absolutely amazing thanks to all of you awesome people for reviewing and supporting me and even for some of the ideas you've thrown at me along the way! Anyway enough of me rambling here's the next chapter for you. Enjoy! :-D x

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Chapter Twenty Nine – Suffering

Five days of waiting and panicking for Sarah to come home, she had to be okay. Why was it taking them so long? Even though Sarah was immortal I was still her mother and I stilled worried, no matter how much she had changed my maternal instincts for her will never change. It was drilled into me.

Jacob came home from work to find me yet again pacing the living room, "Bella," he crossed the room to me and rested his firm hands on my shoulders, "Bella, love. You have got to calm down."

"Five days, Jacob. She's been gone for five days now and not even a word from her, no text, no phone call."

"I know, honey." He said softly he sank down into the sofa and pulled me down with him and pulled me into him, "Sarah will be fine," he whispered

"Being immortal doesn't mean she can't be killed, Jacob," I murmured back

Jacob didn't answer that. Instead he kept holding me close, running his fingers through my hair but I could feel him trembling, he was angry about something. I looked up at him and he was staring out the window avoiding my gaze. His face was firm, set in a look I haven't seen in the longest time. From the depths of his past he had managed to pull out Sam's look again. The only look he had to mask whatever it was he was really feeling, and it scared me. "Jake, what's wrong?" I asked him. He looked down and met my eyes, and I saw a flash of something in them, but he regained his composure quickly, he was keeping his feelings from me, "Jacob, please. Don't shut me out," I whispered

"Believe me, Bella, you don't want to know what I'm thinking right now," he barely contained the strain from his voice.

"Please," I whispered again

He sighed and looked into his eyes again, Sam's look was fading from his face. I understood he was angry but I could now see how deep his anger was. But it wasn't just anger, he was suffering from worry as much as I was, and he was in pain. "You really want to know?" his voice grew harsh, barely recognizable from his usual soft husky voice that I loved so much, this was the harsh voice I heard him use a very long time ago. Back when he first found out about his heritage, when he told me he couldn't be my friend anymore. When he told me that he thought he wasn't good. I didn't mean to shy away from him like I did. But the tone he used brought back one of the worst memories I had and it scared me. Jacob got to his feet and then he begun pacing like I was doing moments ago. "I should have taken Cullen down when I had the chance," he muttered, "Back in the clearing that day, him and Alice. I shouldn't have forgiven them for breaking the treaty and I should have had my boys take them out. I would have enjoyed ripping him to pieces," he growled

"Jake, no. You don't mean that," I said

He looked me in the eye, "Don't I?" he countered,

"No, because you are a decent person," I told him

He laughed, "Do you think he is a decent person?" he eyed me, "Look at what he's done to us! All my life that leech has PLAGUED me! He's wanted everything I have and he's been taking it. He tried to take you away from me, after nearly destroying you. He took our daughter away twice! And look what his selfishness is doing to you now, Bella. You are a wreck from worry and I can't stand to see you like this! He is no less a monster than any other vampire. In fact considering what he's done he's worse! If we took them out that day in the forest none of this would have ever happened!"

"We couldn't have known, Jacob," I stood and wrapped my arms around him, his frame was stiff, he was still trembling. I could feel his muscles tensing as he tried to calm himself down, "You are a good man, Jacob. You are ten times the man he is, don't forget that. If you killed them that day in the forest, you wouldn't have forgiven yourself for it."

"Bella, you don't get it. Taking them out wouldn't have been a problem for me. They're just another couple of bloodsuckers in my opinion," he pulled out of my arms for a moment to look me in the eyes, he gripped my upper arms lightly, "The only reason why I didn't was because _you_ wouldn't have forgiven me if I did," he whispered, "does that make me a good person?"

"It's built into your nature but you fought it and I'm proud of you, just like it's their nature to feed on human blood and they fight that. Even though Edward has screwed us up more times than we care to think about, the fact is that the Cullen's strive to be good. Which means they have souls, good souls. Taking them out would be the same as taking a life, they're not just any vampires. And you didn't do that because you are a good person," I told him and wrapped my arms around him again

"Does it make me a good person to want him dead now?" he asked, "If I could tear him limb from limb and throw each little piece of him on a fire I would. Happily."

"Jacob, you _are_ a good person. And you will do the right thing, just as you always do." I assured him

"Bella, I love you," he whispered, his soft husky voice coming back,

"I love you," I reached up on my toes and kissed his neck, sometimes having a husband who is so tall isn't always helpful, but he knew what I needed from him right then, he leaned in and kissed me slowly and tenderly. I could feel his pain in that kiss and as we parted we rested our foreheads together and closed our eyes. Silently praying everything will be alright.

"Mom! Dad!" our moment was interrupted when Caleb burst through the front door. "We were just on patrol, Embry was on the borders and he saw them, they're on their way back here, in the black Mercedes."

"Have you told Seth?" Jacob asked

Caleb nodded, "As soon as I saw the car I started running back, so did Seth, but I was closer. He should be here soon,"

"He's here now," he said walking through the door, "And so are they," he told us and as soon as he did the black car pulled up outside our cottage.

Alice stepped out first from the drivers seat, followed by Edward, I looked into his eyes and he looked… empty. There was no other way to describe it. But Edward was cradling something large in his arms

"Motherf-" Jacob muttered

"Oh my god!" I cried,

His face was solemn as he came towards us, moving far too slow for my liking.

"What the hell have you done to her, asshole!?" Seth cried

How was this even possible? Sarah wasn't dead, yet she wasn't conscious. She simply lay limp in Edward's arms. She was a vampire, this wasn't right.

"I think we should discuss this inside," Alice said

Edward was already laying her on the couch when we walked into the living room I glared as I passed him and kneeled over her and took her hand and gasped looking up at him, "What's happening to her?" I asked her hand was _warm._

"We're not sure, exactly," Alice said, Edward's face never changed.

"Are you not going to speak then?" I yelled at Edward, "Coward," I muttered and his eyes finally left Sarah's and flickered to mine, "You selfish bastard," I growled at him, "I _hate_ you," his eyes were pained and I didn't care

Seth knelt beside me and place a hand on her head, "She's hot!" he cried,

"Talk, now." Jacob told them, "What happened?"


	30. Helpless

A/n: I'm back and trying to get back into the swing of posting regularly again. It's not easy after being mentally lazy over the Christmas period so go easy on me. My head feels like mush at the minute so it took me a while to get this chapter right. Anyway here it is for you. Enjoy x

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Chapter Thirty - Helpless

Every mother fears the worst for her children. We worry about everything. Always worry if they're happy, if they're safe, if they're healthy. No matter how old the child gets it will never go away.

My daughter was supposed to be immortal, a vampire. But there she was lying limp on my couch with no one knowing what was wrong with her. It was impossible for her to be unconscious for a start and now she was warm when she's supposed to be ice cold? Had she caught some rare supernatural virus? There were so many questions, how could I not worry?

I think worry isn't a powerful enough word to describe what I was feeling now, I had gone beyond that. I was scared. So scared for her that I thought I would throw up.

"When we got to Italy I saw what Edward was planning – "

"I don't care about that," I snapped cutting Alice off, "He's obviously fine." I glared at him for a second, totally disgusted. How could I have ever loved him? I didn't want to think about that now, I turned back to my daughter, "I just want to know what's happening to her,"

"We're not sure, but we've called Carlisle, he's on his way." Alice said, "This is why we were late back. We couldn't take Sarah onto a normal flight like this there would be too many questions, so we had to call in some favors and arrange for a private plane to bring us home."

"How long has she been like this?" I demanded,

"Two days," Alice replied, "We had just come out from speaking with the Volturi and she collapsed right in front of us. It's completely unheard of. We didn't know what to do. We thought of taking her back to the Volturi to see if they would help but you'd probably never see her again if they got their hands on a fainting, warm, vampire,"

We were all silenced when we heard the small thump. Everybody's eyes turned to Sarah. _Thump, thump._ "Is that what I think it is?" I gasped. Alice nodded, her face as surprised as mine, if not more, "That's a heart beat," I whispered

Edward's phone rang just then, he picked it up and answered it, "Carlisle," he spoke into it. That was the first time we had heard him speak, we heard Carlisle's voice on the other end

'_I'll be there soon, son, is there any change?'_

"Yes. Carlisle, get here as soon as you can something… strange is happening," he spoke into the phone

'_I'll be there in about half an hour' _

Edward flipped the phone shut

"Her hearts beating," Jacob mused, "Does this mean she's changing back?" he asked

"I don't know," Edward murmured

I listened to the beats. _Thump. Thump, Thump. Thump. _They were slow and definitely weren't normal but they were definitely there. I thought it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

I stroked my daughter's hair and gripped her hand tight, "Sarah? Can you hear me?" I whispered to her, "It's me, mom. I love you so, so much. We are going to figure out what's happening to you, I promise," I told her

Sarah's hand then tensed, and began squeezing around mine to tightly "Sarah?" but then her back arched and her face twisted into a grimace and she screamed. "SARAH!" I cried

Edward ripped Sarah's grip from my hand and moved me to the side, he flinched when he saw the obvious injury that had just been inflicted on my hand when Sarah gripped too tight, the bones were crushed, it was easy to see that from the outside. But I was too numb from fear over Sarah to care or to feel the pain. Her screaming and writhing increased and I was trembling. Jacob sent Caleb into the kitchen to fetch me an ice pack for my hand and he wrapped his arm around me and kissed my temple. "It's going to be alright," he whispered,

We watched helplessly as Edward hovered over our little girl. Checking over her as if he were a doctor. I restrained myself from pushing him off her and telling him to get out of my house. But Sarah needed help right now and that would not help matters at all. But the second she was okay again. And she will be. I want him out of our lives for good.

Caleb returned with an ice pack wrapped in a dish towel and handed it to Jacob who gently put it to my hand. It seemed to relieve the burning sensation that I didn't register before, but must have been feeling. I looked down at it and my hand had swollen. It was purple and two of my fingers looked out of place. But I didn't care about that, it would heal in time. My only concern was for my daughter, "What's happening to her?" I asked

"She's changing, I think. We're not sure," Edward replied

The sound of tires screeching to a stop directed our heads to the door as Carlisle breezed in. "I got here as fast as I could," he flitted into the living room and took Edward's place in front of Sarah. "She has a heartbeat." He stated, we already knew this, I've never heard Carlisle sound so confused before, he was always so sure. He pulled his big black bag of doctor's tricks next to him and rummaged inside and pulled out one of those small devices that take the temperature of a person when inserted into the ear. He took Sarah's temperature. The device beeped a couple of times before Carlisle pulled it out and read the small LCD screen, "Eighty one point two" he mumbled, "It can't be,"

"What's the diagnosis, doc?" Jacob asked him

"I can't be sure yet," he told him, "But human temperature as you know is usually around ninety eight point six, you wolves are around one hundred and eight and vampires are always twelve point five. Sarah's temperature is climbing to such a high degree. It shouldn't be possible,"

"Carlisle do you have a theory?" Edward asked

Carlisle lifted Sarah's eyelids, last time I saw her eyes, her pupils were a faded orange almost becoming the gold I expected them to be. But seeing the color as Carlisle flashed his pen light into them, her eyes had changed color. They weren't gold like the Cullen's but they were slightly darker like a light hazel.

"It's been about six months since her change right?" Carlisle said, "Which is about the time when the remaining blood leaves the system from when vampires were human. When that's out of the system that's when our eyes change to gold, it's the same for any of us, if we tasted human blood our eyes wouldn't be gold again for another 6 months because that's how long it takes to clear. But Sarah has never tasted a human so the human blood has been her own."

Edward nodded in agreement.

"Well my theory is that the blood that was in her system was preventing this reaction. But now her blood has cleared, her body is now having a reaction to the higher percentage of venom that's coursing through her veins" Carlisle said, "Of course I'll have to take a DNA sample and check bu – "

"Reaction?" I interrupted him, "Why is she having a reaction?"

"Bella, Sarah is Quileute, her body carries the wolf gene. Venom is lethal to the Quileute's but the wolf gene wasn't yet activated in her which is how she successfully made the transition. Now that no more of her human blood remains in her system there is a higher percentage of venom and nothing to dilute it anymore"

"You think she's dying?" I asked

"I can't be sure. I think that right now the vampire and wolf genes she has are fighting each other. I'll need a DNA sample if you permit me," he said, I nodded instantly and watched him pull a large plastic tube from his bag and unscrewed the lid. Attached the lid on the inside of the tube was a cotton swab. He scraped it on the inside of Sarah's mouth and put it back in the tube and screwed the lid back on, "I'm going back to the old house, I think I left some equipment there that I could use to analyze this. I'll be back soon," Carlisle said to me

"Doc, Bella's hand need's looking at," Jacob moved my hand closer to the blonde doctor and Carlisle took it in his cool hands. I no longer needed the icepack.

"Oh my," he said looking at the damage, "What happened?"

"Sarah," I mumbled

"Ah, right." Carlisle said, "Well those two fingers look dislocated, Bella. So I'm going to pop them back in alright?" I nodded, he took my middle finger, "I'm going to do this one first and I'm going to count to three, would you like to clench down on anything?" I shook my head but Jacob took my hand. "Okay. Good." He said, "One… two…" with an almost deafening crack he popped back in. I wasn't going to lie, it hurt. My hand tensed around Jacob's lightly but I didn't acknowledge the pain in any other way. "Very good, Bella. Now the other one," He took my ring finger in his cold hands, "One…" he didn't even count two this time when he popped it in, this one hurt a little more than the first one and I winced. "Nicely handled," Carlisle commented, "Right I'm going back to the house to get the equipment and something to strap your hand up properly in," he smiled at me and then looked at Jacob, "Keep the ice pack on her hand to keep the swelling down in the meantime," Jacob nodded

"Take him with you. Get him out of my sight." I gestured to Edward, "I don't want him near me right now,"

Carlisle nodded and looked at Edward who looked like he was going to be difficult, "Edward, come on," he told him, but Edward didn't budge. There were clearly some unresolved issues between the two of them which is understandable. I bet he wasn't too happy to learn his son, his oldest companion, had tried to commit suicide. "Edward. Now," Carlisle used a firmer tone with him and luckily he obeyed. Carlisle left with Edward in tow. Alice looked at us apologetically. She need not bother, she was just as bad as Edward. She could probably feel the hostility coming off me in waves because she looked awkward and uncomfortable.

"I best go look out for my brother," she said following them out

Once the vampires were out of our house Jacob let out a huge breath, and the only other sound we could hear was Sarah's cries and grunts. It killed me to know she was in pain. I had never felt more helpless in my life.

Seth leaned over her and kissed her cheek, "I love you," he whispered to her, "come back to me," and he cupped her cheek, which was beginning to look slightly rosy like it used to despite the russet skin so much like her fathers, and he stroked her face lightly with his thumb.

I looked over to Caleb he was stood still, fists clenched, arms shaking. Like his father, Caleb was hot headed and right now it looked like it was taking a lot of effort on his part to keep calm. He also looked lost. Because he didn't know what to do in this situation, he was just as helpless as we were and he didn't like it. As the alpha wolf he had the power but right now he had no power. "Caleb," I murmured, he met my eyes, "Come here," I opened my arms to him and he rushed over and buried himself into me. Because of all the physical changes that happened quickly with his transformation it was easy to forget that he was still a young boy, just turned fifteen. I could feel his tears soaking through my sweater. I ignored the pain in my hand and wrapped my arms around my son. "It's okay, it's okay," I cooed softly, "it's okay to feel lost and helpless," I told him, "we all feel the same, but we'll stay stronger together as a family,"

Caleb lifted his head and I saw the redness of his eyes, "I have to do something," he said, "I can't just watch Sarah like this, I can't see her in pain," my own eyes filled with tears again

"I know," I said, "I know, it's hard for us all,"

"I have to get out of here," he whispered, "I need to feel useful," he turned to Seth, "Stay here and look after my parents," he told him, "I'm going to patrol, let me know when the Cullen's get back okay?" Seth nodded, he turned back to me, "I'm sorry mom, I can't do this, it hurts too much," I kissed his forehead to let him know I understood. Jacob linked his arm through my waist and nodded at his son, "I'm sorry," Caleb said again and ran out the front door.

"What can we do now?" I asked Jacob

"The only thing we can do." He sighed "We wait."


	31. Mutation

A/n: Sorry I'm not being as good as I used to be with updating, but its slowly coming to a close and I'm trying to drag it out now as much as possible. Not only that I'm also working on my two next stories. I'm not one hundred percent sure when I'll be posting them yet, with the first one I've got 3 complete chapters that I'm happy with and I'm not really writing them in any order yet so it's just a bunch of random chapters that need to be threaded together, but I've planned it out pretty well. And the second one came to me last night and I was on a ROLL big time, I just had a few ideas and started typing with more ideas rushing to me as I carried on. In the space of 4 hours I had typed up 5 pretty lengthy chapters, usually its the stories that come to me that way I tend to have more sucess with. That's how Eternal Sunshine started. So far I'm really happy with it, but I really need to concentrate on finishing Eternal Sunshine, which is my first priority as it is my baby. Anyways thanks for all your feedback I assure you I read every single review I love you all, from the readers who have just discovered my story to the ones who've reviewed every chapter. Lots of kisses for you all! Anyway here is chapter 31 of Eternal Sunshine. Enjoy x

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Chapter Thirty One - Mutation

The Cullen's had been gone for two hours and Sarah's screams were getting worse, I didn't know what to do, or how to act. I paced the living room. Jacob was sat in the armchair, his thumb and fore finger pinching the bridge of his nose and his eyes were squeezed shut. Seth never left Sarah's side. He was holding her hand at first until we heard a large crack from his bones during one of her screams. Luckily Seth healed faster than I did. His bones were almost back to normal. Mine were still throbbing.

"What's taking so long?" I cried after another of Sarah's blood curling screams, her back arched and she fell back down to the couch in an awkward position. Jacob jumped out of the armchair and wrapped his arms around me

"This isn't exactly common Bella." He whispered, "I'm sure the doc is trying his hardest to figure out what's wrong with her,"

"Not hard enough," I growled "She could be dying right in front of us, Jacob. And all we can do is watch!"

"No, don't think like that, Bella." He whispered

"Why not, one of us has to be realistic," I muttered

"It's called hope," Jacob said, "I have hope that everything will work out fine," he kissed my cheek.

From the corner of our eyes we saw Seth stand sharply looking directly at the door. We sensed it a few seconds after, Carlisle was back. Finally. Carlisle let himself in, Alice and Edward hadn't returned with him. "I thought it would be for the best that I came alone," he said as he entered the living room, "I apologize it took so long but this matter is rather unprecedented. Also, Edward and I had a slight disagreement,"

"I don't care, Carlisle," I sighed, "I just want to know if she's going to be okay,"

"Well, at this moment it's unclear," he answered, "I think I've figured out what's going on, but nothing like this has ever happened before so I can't honestly tell you what will become of her, it would be unfair to give you any false hopes."

"Okay, just tell us what's going on then, Doc?" Jacob asked

"Basically, her DNA is mutating. When I said before about how she has no more of her original human blood giving her a higher percentage of venom, well it must have triggered something in her DNA. I don't know how it happened so I can't explain it but the shape changing gene was still in there somewhere. The venom couldn't remove that. But now these different genes are fighting in her system, some of them are mutating together and some aren't." He explained

"Hang on a second! Her genes are mutating? What do you mean?" Jacob asked

"The wolf gene and the vampire gene. Some are fusing together and some are trying to kill each other off. It's a nightmare in there. At this rate I don't think she'll make it unless I intervene"

"Intervene how?" I asked

Carlisle took my hand with the linking scars and traced them with a finger. "I'm going to let the wolf gene win," he said, "She's a mature vampire so she wont ever be human again, Bella. But look at her cheeks, she's got some colour now, that means blood. The Wolf genes are producing blood in her system. Her body is trying to heal itself, it's the wolf genes that are fusing with the vampire genes. But it's the vampire genes that are trying to fight the wolf genes off. If I bite her and suck as much Venom as I can out of her system..."

"Then the wolf genes stand a better chance at mutating with the venom" I finished for him

Carlisle nodded, but Jacob looked confused, "So this mutating is a good thing?" he asked, "I thought it was a bad thing?"

"If it doesn't mutate then her cells are just going to keep battling it out and killing each other off," Carlisle shone the pen light into Sarah's eyes again "See look, her eyes are red again" he pointed out, "Which means she's got human blood in her system."

Jacob rubbed his forehead, "This is confusing," he said

"Think of it this way Jake. The doctor here wants to suck some of the venom out of Sarah so her wolf DNA has a better chance of fusing with it. The vampire side of her is being aggressive, it sees the wolf gene as a virus and so it's attacking it and fighting against the change. But it's in _our_ nature to heal rapidly and that's what the wolf gene is trying to do, heal her, the only way it can which is why its fusing with the vampire cells, otherwise it's likely she's going to die." Seth explained to him,

"Couldn't have put it better myself, Seth," Carlisle smiled at him

"If the cells manage to mutate, what do you expect will become of her?" he asked

"Best theory?" he asked, Seth nodded, "Sarah will become some Vampire – Wolf hybrid. My guess is she'll inhabit traits and abilities of both species,"

"Okay, now _my_ head is spinning," Seth sat down

"We all get it now Carlisle." I said, "She's in pain. Help her,"

Carlisle nodded and knelt over Sarah and lifted her arm to his mouth and bit. Seth, Jacob and I flinched. Carlisle hovered over her for a few minutes. The longer he was there the more color returned to Sarah's skin. "I cleared quite a lot from her system," he told us. "I kept going until I could feel the new blood pumping closer to me. That should be enough for now. We'll keep watch over her. I'll brought my equipment with me to keep testing her every now and then. That's all I can do I suppose," he sighed. Then his eyes narrowed onto my hand. "Come on, Bella, let's strap that up for you," he ushered me into the armchair and placed my arm and hand out flat on my leg. A lot of bruising was beginning to come through and the swelling hadn't reduced. I caught Jacob wince. He didn't like to see me hurt. I smiled at him to assure him I was okay but Jacob wasn't fooled. Though it was true that right now I wasn't in much pain, it did look pretty bad.

"Seth might need looking at too," I murmured as Carlisle started wrapping me up, starting from the wrist.

"I'm fine," Seth spoke quickly, "I heal fast, don't worry about me, Doc," he said

"Sarah broke your hand too?" Carlisle asked, Seth nodded, "Since you heal fast I would like to just check your hand over too incase some of the bones have already set wrong, that way we can get them right,"

"Sure." Seth said, "But take care of Bella and Sarah first." He said, "If need be you can break my bones again and reset them. Later."

"As you wish," Carlisle replied

He continued carefully strapping my hand up, being as delicate with me as possible. "I do appreciate you doing this for us Carlisle," I told him, "I know things didn't go the way we thought. I still think you are a wonderful man... but Edward. I can't ever forgive him now, not after all this."

"I understand, Bella." He said, "I know you've been very good to us in the past and I'm afraid Edward has made a lot of bad choices, most of them concerning you and your family. And I can't excuse his actions, I'd like to but I can't. He should have known better. And this latest stunt of his, going to Italy. I'm very angry with him at the minute, Bella. He upset Esme, forced Alice into making drastic decisions almost as careless as his have been. He's pissed off Emmett and Jasper." I had never heard Carlisle swear before, Edward was definitely in his bad graces at the minute. "I just can't understand why Edward would act so selfishly," he shook his head

"Because he's still in love with Bella," Jacob muttered, "If, god forbid, I was ever to lose her myself, if she died, I'd probably want to kill myself too just to be with her again. But I knew I would never do that because I _know _her, she would want me to keep on living my life. And I would repect her wishes. Be happy for her." I smiled up at him pleased with his answer

"I love you," I told him,

"I love you too," he knelt down at my side and watched as Carlisle worked.

A difference was noticed about Sarah. She had calmed down, her screams had calmed to grunts, the thrashing became twitching, "Do you think its working?" I wondered

"It's looking good," Carlisle smiled, "I'll get the equipment out of my car and run another test," he said as he taped up the gauze on my hand. "Bella, try and keep your arm upright as much as possible for a few days so the…"

I smiled, "I know the rules, Carlisle. Don't forget this is me you're talking to," I got up off the armchair, Carlisle chuckled and went out to fetch his lab equipment.

When he returned he swabbed the inside of Sarah's mouth again and I half watched him and keep one eye on Sarah as he did something with the swab on a slid and look at it under the microscope. I could see him smiling. "What's it doing?" I asked

"Exactly what we hoped," he said, "I can't wait to see what she's going to be like. She's going to be magnificent,"

At that moment it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my chest, "She's going to be okay?" I asked

Carlisle nodded, "From what I can see, she's going to be fine," he said, I pulled Jacob into my arms and cried into his shoulder because of all these overwhelming waves of relief flooding over me. He kissed my temple and held me close. "It's just all a waiting game now," Carlisle added.

I turned to Seth, "Go call Caleb, he'll be happy to hear the news. He'll want to be here when she wakes," Seth nodded and ran outside.

That's when Sarah's heartbeat started pounding faster. She then bolted up right, eyes wide open, gasping for breath. She turned to face us. Her eyes were hazel, her skin tone was back to the beautiful russet color like her fathers and her cheeks were flushed. "Sarah?" I gasped

"What the hell happened to me?"


	32. Tests

A/n: Hello guys. This story will have an ending I promise you. But my head is busy and as soon as I think about the ending I always get a new idea! Oh well. Thanks for being supportive as always. I love you all! Enjoy x

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Chapter Thirty Two – Tests

"Sarah, are you okay?" Sarah's eyes darted around the room, first onto me, then Jacob, then Carlisle. But at the sound of my voice she turned sharply to face me

"I have the worst headache," she moaned putting a hand to her head, "What happened? What's Carlisle doing here?"

Carlisle knelt down on the couch before her and took the penlight to her eyes, "Sarah what was the last thing you remember?" he asked her, he pulled out the little ear device to take her temperature again and then tried to insert a needle into her arm but it broke as it touched her skin.

"Um… I'm not sure." She scratched her head, "it's very fuzzy… I think I was with Alice… and Edward. Oh god we were in Italy and we saw the Volturi and after that I blacked out. I feel… different"

"Good different, or bad different?" I asked her

She smiled, "Good, different," she replied, "But that shouldn't be possible, right?" she looked at Carlisle, "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing, you're fine," he smiled at her, "you just went through some changes that all,"

Sarah eyed us all, "What kind of changes?" she asked uncertainly

Seth came back to join us then with Caleb in tow, "Oh thank god!" Seth breathed, Sarah found a smile and ran over to him with inhuman speed. She was still very fast. She wrapped her arms around Seth and they shared a kiss, "I've been so worried!" he cried

"You scared us all," Caleb murmured, when Sarah and Seth pulled apart Caleb pulled his sister close and held her tightly,

"You smell different," Sarah said, "The wolf smell… it's not… bad anymore, if anything its sweet and really pleasant,"

"You're scent has changed too," Caleb grinned, "You smell… almost… like one of us,"

"One of you?" Sarah whispered, she turned back to Carlisle, "You smell different to me too. You actually smell worse than the wolves do now. What happened to me?"

"I'll explain the science later but the short version, you're half vampire and half wolf, well I say half but you are more wolf than vampire judging from your scent, but we'll need to see what attributes you display now,"

"What do you mean?" she asked him

"You are so unique and that presents so many questions, Sarah, there has never been anything like you. We will need to run tests to see what qualities of the wolf side of you, you have and what qualities of the vampire side of you have remained"

Sarah nodded, "Okay,"

For the next few hours I watched as Carlisle tested Sarah in almost anyway imaginable to compare which qualities she had from her wolf side and what qualities she had from her vampire side. She was unable to be harmed, her skin, although warm again and her coloring had returned, was still hard like a vampires, Carlisle couldn't get a needle through her skin, couldn't cut her with a knife, the only thing that would work now, he mused, would be the teeth of a vampire. But Jacob wouldn't allow him to try and Carlisle didn't want to either. She was tested for her speed and agility which hadn't changed. The wolves were faster than vampires only in their wolf form. As humans they were still faster than your average human but Sarah was much faster, she was more agile, still like a vampire. Her temperature was still much higher than that of a vampire, but a bit lower than a human, her eyes were the most beautiful color of hazel. It was like a blend of the gold of her vampire eyes and the brown her human eyes had been, the color that used to match my own.

Carlisle asked what it was like in her mind, she said it was still like her vampire mind, she could think numerous things at once. Her vision was still as sharp as were her other senses. She said she could feel the blood pumping around her system again, Carlisle asked if it made her thirsty but she shook her head and smiled adding that even Jacob wasn't making her thirsty anymore, she said she had a craving for a juicy steak and I don't think I've ever laughed and cried at the same time the way I did then since giving birth to Caleb. "I feel halfway human again," she smiled and then something amazing happened, I saw her eyes glisten with tears. Tears, real tears.

Carlisle smiled, "The thing about being one of the wolves is that they're mostly human so you are in part human again," he said "When you were going through your changes, I told your mother you could never be fully human again, not with your vampire side. Like your father, he was able to give up his wolf side and was able to grow old again unfortunately you'll not have that choice. You are still an immortal." he walked up to hear and used his thumb to wipe Sarah's tears. "Believe me here, Sarah. You got so lucky,"

"Tears" she whispered, "I've missed them," then she flexed her arm muscles, "Also, I feel so in control again," she said, "There is no thirst anymore,"

"We'll still need to run some tests," Carlisle advised, "Although you may not feel the thirst anymore, you still might be thirsty but unaware of it, and it could weaken you if you don't act upon it, we just simply don't know. The wolf side of you has the strongest urge to protect the people and that urge could be overpowering the thirst since you are after all slightly more wolf than vampire,"

Sarah nodded, "Makes sense," she said, "Okay, do what you need to do, Carlisle,"

He tested her venom which was different, it too had been changed, it was like it had been diluted, he took a sample of Caleb's blood and tried to see what effect Sarah's venom had on his blood compared to the effect Carlisle's had on Caleb's blood. Carlisle's venom basically destroyed Caleb's blood, it killed all of the white blood cells and the red blood cells looked like they had rotted. Carlisle pointed out that if Sarah was bitten after her wolf gene was activated that's what would have happened to her. It would have killed her instantly, Jacob explained to me that a vampire's venom is lethal to the wolves. I didn't know that before which made me worry for Seth's safety. If she had ever accidently poisoned him with her venom it would have killed him, so I was relieved to see that the effects of Sarah's venom wasn't so drastic, it killed of a couple of the white blood cells and some of the red cells darkened in color but after a few seconds the white cells regenerated and the red cells looked normal again. Carlisle said the most dramatic effect her venom would have on the wolves would be a painful stinging sensation for a few seconds before their bodies automatically healed itself which is what we saw happening to Caleb's blood sample.

I didn't think Carlisle could run anymore tests on her but apparently there were two left, the first being seeing Sarah hunt, to see if she still needed the blood to keep her sustained or if she could live happily without it and live back on human food. The second was obvious after Carlisle said it.

"The wolf gene is active, Sarah you should be able to phase into a wolf," he said

"But I don't know how." She whispered,

"I'll show you," Seth took her hand, "We'll go into the forest and try okay?" he smiled at her, Sarah looked instantly reassured and nodded with a smile. I was grateful to Seth, he'd done so much for our family over the years but above all that he made my daughter happy, made her feel safe. I couldn't have thought of anyone better for her to be with. Seth had a big heart, if Sarah had all eternity to live I knew without a doubt Seth would always stay by her side.

"Doc, do you think her presence here will stop populating more of the tribe to become wolves?" Jacob asked,

"I'm not sure, it's something only the test of time can prove I suppose," Carlisle turned to Sarah, "Come," he smiled, "Let's all go into the forest and we'll see if you can phase, and then we'll hunt,"

We all decided to go. I grabbed a second outfit for Sarah on the way out just in case her other clothes shredded during a transformation. Carlisle, Sarah, Seth and Caleb had to wait for Jacob and I to keep up of course, we were a little faster than the average human but compared to them we might as well have been snails. But finally we made it to a clearing where Seth stopped and decided this was a good place to try. He whispered something into her ear that even I couldn't pick up but Carlisle and Caleb probably could. Sarah nodded and he kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose, Sarah smiled.

"It'll be hard for you Sarah, because it's usually our anger that causes the change first time," Jacob told her, "Your emotions control the change so think about something that makes you angry,"

"Oh I can certainly think of that," she closed her eyes, squeezed them tighter. After a few minutes we begun to think that maybe she couldn't change after all, even though she had the gene, but then her body began to shake and now right in front of us stood a beautiful white wolf.

"She's breathtaking isn't she?" Seth whispered and reached out to run his fingers through Sarah's fur. Sarah's mouth pulled back revealing her teeth in a smile and she lightly nudged Seth with her head. He grinned knowing instantly what it was she was asking, he disappeared behind a few of the trees, presumably to take off his cut off jeans and he returned as the sandy colored wolf and stood by Sarah's side and nudged her lightly back.

"Seth, are you and Sarah able to communicate mentally like you normally should?" Carlisle asked, Seth nodded his huge head. "Excellent," he smiled, "Why don't you two run around, let Sarah adjust to her wolf form and come back to us in a few minutes, then she should try hunting,"

The two wolves bounded off together, I noticed Caleb itching to take off after them but I placed a hand on his shoulder, "Just let them be for now, Caleb," I gave him a sweet smile.

"Huh," Jacob perched on a fallen tree, looking deep in thought

"What's on your mind, Jake," I asked taking a seat beside him

"Now Sarah can transform into a wolf do you know what this means?" he asked

I smiled, "I know it's great, she'll finally be accepted by the council, you and your dad can work things out," I took his hand in mine

"Well yes," he said, "and to be honest I'm not sure if I want to work things out with my father after all the harsh things he's said, but that's not what I thinking about,"

"What is it then?" I asked

"Sarah, is our daughter, _my_ daughter, and Caleb's _older_ sister," he said, he looked at me waiting for me to get what he was trying to tell me, but I didn't get it

"Yes, so..."

He gave me an amused grin, "So technically, Sarah is now the pack Alpha,"


	33. Promises

A/n: Hey guys. Like I've said before I am sorry that I'm not updating as much as I used to, its just I'm working on my new story as well and I'm so lost in it I'm finding it a little difficult to distract myself from it. Lol. Anyways, in this chapter I hope I'm giving you what you were all waiting for. The Bella - Edward face off. So here's chapter 33 (I promise you this is nearly the end now! haha!) Enjoy x

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Chapter Thirty Three - Promises

As it turned out Sarah did still need blood to keep her sustained, after she ran around as a wolf for a while Carlisle insisted she hunt. She tried, she really did but she seemed to have lost her touch. At first we thought it was because she wasn't lusting after the blood anymore but Jacob suggested phasing and try hunting in her wolf form.

So she tried that, she phased and she tracked a large stag and took it down flawlessly chewing on both the meat and lapping up the blood of the animal, completely draining it.

Carlisle appeared to be satisfied about what he knew about Sarah as a hybrid. His tests helped me too, I was reassured by the fact that even though this was unique, Sarah didn't seem to be a danger in anyway.

We walked back to my house and Carlisle was deep in thought, "What's on your mind, Doc?" Jacob had picked up on it too.

"With Sarah being so exclusively unique she can't be discovered by the Volturi, she has to live a quiet life, try not to draw attention to herself." He advised

Sarah seemed to understand and she nodded fiercely, she had only days ago met them, "I'm in no rush to see them again," she shuddered, "They are creepy,"

Carlisle chuckled, "Yes, they do appear to be. Although for Vampires, they are quite… refined," he said, "Power hungry and vicious killers, but very refined,"

"Oh that makes them much better," Jacob rolled his eyes

"Doc, I've got a question," Seth spoke up, "You said Sarah was lucky that this happened to her, its obvious you miss your own humanity a little," he said

"Me and family are very humane for vampires," Carlisle said, "We live as normally as we possibly can,"

"Oh I know that," Seth replied, "That's not where I was going with this, you and your family are very humane," he ignored Jacob's snort, "But I mean if what happened to Sarah could happen to you would you do it?" he asked

Carlisle was actually caught off guard for a second, "In a heartbeat," he said finally

"So what if you took some of our blood and, I don't know, inject it into yourself. Wouldn't that do the same thing?" Seth asked

We all looked to Carlisle, who shook his head, "I wish it were that simple," he smiled, "But no that wouldn't happen to us. The wolf gene is a part of who you are, who Sarah is. It's built into them, built into the make up of your DNA. A simple blood transfusion wouldn't give me the gene,"

"That's too bad," Seth said genuinely sad for him, "Because if we could do this for you, I'd donate some of my blood to you," he smiled

"That's very kind of you, Seth," Carlisle said graciously

When we got back to the house I realized there was some unfinished business to take care of, and as much as I didn't want to face it and pretend it didn't happen I had to talk to Edward. "Carlisle," he turned to me and from the tone of my voice I'm sure he knew what I was about to say.

"I'll call him," he said and pulled out his phone, "Edward, come to Bella's… Yes Sarah's fine, we'll explain everything when you get here," he hung up and put his cell back in his pocket

"Thank you," I said quietly, I suddenly felt very nervous, I knew it wouldn't be long before he and Alice showed up. So I turned to my children and Seth, "I don't want you three here when he comes," I said

"Mom?" Sarah was going to argue but I cut her off before she could continue

"No," I said firmly, "I don't want you here, I suggest you leave now,"

"I'm staying," Sarah crossed her arms

"Sarah, do as your mom says," Jacob said, she looked to him her eyes pleading with his but he shook his head,

"Fine," she cried, exasperated

She, Seth and Caleb went to leave the house just as Edward and Alice came in. I didn't miss the evil look Sarah cast at Edward, and he looked away ashamed. As he should. What an idiot.

"Carlisle," Edward said even as he entered room, Alice kept quiet for once.

Edward was looking pretty sorry for himself and I wondered how I ever fell for him, "Look at you," I spat, "how pathetic,"

"Excuse me?" Alice was in my face before I had a chance to blink

"Alice," Carlisle called, "Let her speak she has every right," she backed down and sat on the couch with a frown.

"What the hell were you trying to prove running off to Italy to kill yourself?" I asked him, the look of pain in his eyes as he glanced at me was unmistakable, but I wasn't going to go easy on him, not this time. He didn't deserve my pity.

"Bella," he choked on my name, "I just - I just didn't know how to go on without you," he said, "it's always been you that's had my heart, I can't change that."

"You made your choice, a long time ago." I said, "You left me, begged me to move on and be happy and that's what I did," I took Jacob's hand, "I'm married with children, I grew up and I couldn't be happier. But you couldn't stand to see it, not really, so you decided to destroy what I had to make you feel better?"

"Bella, it's not like that," Edward argued, "I didn't try to destroy anything,"

"Really? Edward. Really? Because when I think of you all I can think of now is pain. You let Sarah fall for you so you could try and convince yourself she was me. How sick is that? How dare you use my daughter that way! She got herself killed over trying to defend your actions and your feelings for her and when she became one of you she saw through you straight away. She was heartbroken."

"I'm sorry, I made a mistake," Edward took a step towards me but I put my hand out to stop him

"You keep making mistakes, Edward!" I cried, "Because if that wasn't enough you decided to run off and commit suicide, not thinking of your family. Your sister, Alice, who acted as selfish as you had to convince me to try and save you. What were you trying to do? Guilt me into saving you, think that after I did I'll realize that it is you I wanted after all?"

"Bella, not at all,"

"You once said to me that all you wanted was for me to be happy and I am happy, Edward. But you keep trying to destroy that at every turn. At first I couldn't bare you to kill yourself, I wouldn't have been able to live with the guilt if you had, all because of me, but when I got to that airport I had a thought and I felt the most perfect clarity. If you wanted to kill yourself, so be it, you don't deserve to live if you wasn't thankful enough for everything you had already. I wasn't going to risk my life for you, because I wasn't going to change my mind. I love Jacob and his face was all I could see. If it was still Jacob I wanted how could I possibly convince you not to kill yourself when the reason you were doing it was because you couldn't have me?"

Alice looked sheepish then, both she and Edward did.

"The only reason I let Sarah go with you is because I knew she could handle herself, and you couldn't hear her thoughts either, even though I wasn't prepared to help you myself, I didn't _want _you to die. And not only did you hurt my family with your selfish decision, this time you hurt your own family. Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Jasper, Rose, Alice… they all love you Edward, they don't want to see you destroy yourself. You need to wake up and stop being selfish."

Edward looked at Carlisle and then at his sister, "You're right, Bella. Carlisle, Alice I'm sorry," he said, then he turned back to me, "I'm so sorry for the way I've behaved, Bella,"

"You won't be alone forever, Edward," I promised him, "But I need you to promise me one thing,"

"Anything," he whispered

"Remember that day, a few days after my eighteenth birthday," he knew exactly what day I meant because he grimaced, "You made me a promise that day that you broke the moment you made it, but this time I want you to keep it," I said. Edward nodded and sighed, "I need you to keep it,"

"What promise? Bella?" Jacob asked

"He promised it would be as if he never existed," I answered, "Edward, I don't want to hear from you or see you again. Keep your promise. Please."

He nodded, "I promise," he said, "I am sorry, Bella, truly,"

He wanted to reach out to me, I could see it in his eyes but I let Jacob pull me into him instead, assuming that he too must have read Edward's intentions. "Right, of course," Edward muttered

"I'm just curious what did Sarah say to you to stop you?" I asked

"Nothing," he said, "Once Sarah was there and then Alice showed up, I couldn't risk getting them involved, the Volturi would have punished them too by association. But that's when the Volturi's guard pulled us in for a 'chat'" he explained

"They offered us all a position on the guard, Aro, the leader, was specifically interested in me and Edward for our talents," Alice said, "But we turned them down politely, that's when Sarah collapsed. What was wrong with her?" she asked, "I caught her scent when we past coming in, she's different. I didn't see that coming, or the collapsing, I can't understand it,"

"You wouldn't see it," I said, "She's part wolf, her gene kicked in and made her some kind of hybrid. Seems she's invisible to your visions now like the rest of them,"

"Well, we best be going," Carlisle cut through the tense atmosphere and eased it immediately, I knew I wouldn't see him again which was a shame because I really did like Carlisle.

"Thank you for all your help, Carlisle," I said earnestly,

"You are most welcome, Bella," he nodded

"Give my love to the others,"

"I will, Edward, Alice," he motioned for them to follow him out to his car. Edward followed him out first without saying anything, right at that moment it felt like a huge weight had lifted off my chest.

Alice took cautious steps towards me, "I'm sorry too, Bella," she said, "I'm sorry I was pushy about the whole Italy thing,"

"I understand, you were desperate to help your brother," I said

"I know but I should have never expected you to risk your life for him." She said, "Truth is, Bella, I miss you too," she gave me a quick half smile, then she danced over to the door and gave me a small wave before exiting with the others.

Jacob exhaled loudly, "Think he'll listen this time?" he asked

"I hope so," I turned into him and kissed him.

"Me too," he replied, "Now, time to call a council meeting,"

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear about Sarah. Do you think they'll learn to love her again?" I asked

"Of course they will." He smiled, "Besides they won't have a choice, she is the true alpha now."

I rolled my eyes "They're going to love that,"


	34. Acceptance

A/n: Hey! You guys are awesome! It took a while but finally we've reached the end of my story, this is the final chapter! It's been a long trip and I'm so glad you guys have enjoyed this story! I will be back with more Twifiction I promise you that! Please keep showing me your love with your amazing reviews! Enjoy x

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Chapter Thirty Four – Acceptance

I wasn't going to lie, I was nervous. No I was more than nervous. I was scared. Jacob could tell and he took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze for encouragement. If I was this scared I wondered how Sarah was feeling about the whole thing. I had asked her earlier that morning she said she was okay and she looked content enough for me to believe her. But when I think back to the last council meeting and how that went, I supposed it couldn't get any worse, she was pretty much disowned by her grandfather. I'm guessing Sarah came to the same conclusion. But no matter what they say, Sarah knows that she will never be alone, she had me and Jacob, Caleb and Seth and not one of us would ever give up on her or cast her aside.

But she is different now, Sarah is more Quileute than Vampire. I wondered how they'd react to this news and as Jacob had said she is technically the Alpha.

Jacob and I were making our way to his old make shift garage turned Council meeting place we walked hand in hand and in silence, both of us allowing the other alone with our thoughts about what this meeting could mean for the future of our children and for the future of the tribe. Sarah and Seth were out hunting and would be joining us shortly. They wanted us to explain the situation before they see her.

My stomach knotted as the house was now in plain sight, I saw others entering the old garage. The council was gathering. I stopped moving and Jacob turned to face me, "Bella, it's going to be okay," he said, he pulled me into him and I buried my face into his chest, he ran his fingers through my hair to sooth me, I took in a few deep breaths and pulled back and looked up at my husband. Jacob just smiled at me, "It's going to be fine," he promised.

"You can't know that," I said

"No, but I feel it," he replied confidently

"But what about your father, Jake?" I asked, "What if he still doesn't come around? I don't want you and him to keep fighting. He hasn't got long left, and when he is gone you'll regret it, you need to make peace with him,"

"Bella, you and our children are what's most important to me. If my father can't see how special you all are than that's his problem, the regret will be his, not mine. I can't say I haven't tried," he said, he was right though, Billy was being so stubborn about this. Maybe now that Sarah was part wolf he would accept her again.

"It's not just your father though," I pointed out

"Look, Bella, most of them didn't care what Sarah was and they still loved her, the others only said no because she was a vampire and they weren't letting their personal feelings about her rule their decision. But they've got nothing to fear anymore, Sarah's one of us,"

I took another deep breath, "Okay, let's get this over with," I took his hand again and we headed inside, most of the council were already here. Both elders and the pack, the only ones missing now were Seth, Sarah, Caleb, Billy and Leah.

"Where's Caleb?" I asked Embry once I noticed he was missing,

"He told me he was coming with Seth and Sarah in a while, said there's some sort of surprise," Embry gave Jake and I a questioning glance, "What's going on? Why did you pull this meeting together?"

"All in good time my friend," Jacob replied and patted his shoulder

Leah wheeled Billy in just then and positioned him at the head of the table, he eyed me and Jacob suspiciously and then looked around, it was obvious he noticed the absence of Seth and our children immediately. "Let's call this to order shall we?" he said, if I didn't know any better I would have expected him to pull out a gavel and slam it down on the table, "So, Jacob, care to explain why you've called us all here. Again." We didn't miss the disdain dripping from his voice

"In the last 24 hours a lot has happened," Jacob began, "I've called you all here because you all need to know something about Sarah,"

"Oh god! What has she done?" Leah cried, "I knew it! I knew letting her stay was a bad idea! Whether Seth imprinted on her or not, she shouldn't have been allowed to stay! I mean look at what her presence here has done. The numbers in the pack have tripled and none of us wanted this for our children!" She knew she hit a sore spot for most of the elders. I noticed Embry rolling his eyes. He didn't think life as a wolf was that bad, he'd been at it longer than all the others. He enjoyed it. Also we'd talked about how Leah was a sucker for the dramatics in the past and this was one of those times, everyone else thought the same, but this time she had managed to say the right thing.

"Did you ever stop to think how it is that Seth managed to imprint on a vampire?" Jacob asked, that had managed to get everyone's attention and it was something that had confused the entire council. But now we knew the reason why, Sarah was a Quileute and not even the change to a Vampire could hide that fact for long.

"Where are they anyway?" Paul asked

"They'll be here soon," was all Jacob offered

"She needs her dad to fight her battles for her?" he snorted, "What kind of leech is she anyway?"

I saw Jacob clench his fists and saw his muscles tense, "Be quiet, Paul," he said, "You have no idea what you're talking about," his voice was even, as if he was trying to keep himself from shouting

"Jacob," Rachel placed a hand on his shoulder, urging her brother to get along with her husband. She hated the fact that they were both so hot headed and quick to jump down each others throats. It had always been hard for Paul and Jacob to bond. It got easier over the years but it was when things like this occured their age-old rivalry flared back up. "Please," She shook her head slowly but Jacob's eyes were fixed on his brother-in-laws.

"Easy, Jacob," Billy warned, his father could also see that Jake was on the edge of snapping,

"You need to make sure that your _husband_ can hold his tongue about his niece," Jacob growled

"Jacob, did you have a point that you wanted to make?" Billy asked in a bored tone

"Yes," Jacob's eyes snapped to Billy's and I could only describe the look on his face as pure disappointment. "The point I'm here to make today is about Sarah, she's different,"

"We know she's different, Jake," Quil smiled, "She's tame, one of the good guys," his comment caused a few irritated looks

"No, that's not what I meant." Jacob sighed,

I rose from my chair, "Sarah got sick," I said, Jacob's eyes flickered to mine grateful for my help, he squeezed my hand lightly

"What do you mean she got sick?" Embry looked concerned, "Vampire's can't get sick can they?"

I shook my head, I didn't want to go into the whole Italy ordeal so I decided to dish out the shortened version, "She blacked out and things were getting strange, so we decided to call Carlisle Cullen, he's the only one we could think of that could help us, he ran some tests and he discovered that Sarah was going through some changes," They had perfect timing I sensed the three of them coming, Seth, Sarah and Caleb. The pack turned their heads to the door, they sensed them too. The Elders looked at each other, all of them confused. But Billy kept his eyes trained on us.

"What kind of Changes?" he asked

Embry grinned and ran to the garage doors and pulled both of them open to reveal three giant wolves, the russet wolf who was Caleb, the sandy colored wolf who was Seth and in between them the white wolf, Sarah. Everyone stared at the white wolf, their expressions were a mixture of awe and confusion. "That's Sarah?" Emily smiled, I nodded answering her question and she walked towards her and stroked the white fur. "Sarah, you're beautiful," she said.

It occurred to me that none of the other wolves realized that Sarah had made the change yet, surely they would have been connected to her consciousness if they were wolf at the same time, but Sam's eldest son Micah answered that for me, "Huh, so this is why Caleb ordered us not to phase until he says so," I nodded Caleb pulled his lips back over his teeth in a wolfy grin

I smiled at the three of them, "Go change," I told them, "Then come back," They bounded off, and everyone was silent in their absence reeling from what they just saw. They weren't long, when they returned Seth and Caleb were wearing cut offs and Sarah was in denim shorts and a white tank top.

"How is this possible?" Billy finally asked

"Sarah changed," Jacob shrugged, "She had non of her original human blood left in her system and it triggered her wolf gene to activate, at first it made her sick because the vampire and the wolf gene were fighting each other, but Carlisle saved her, he took away some of her venom to let the wolf gene win over inside her and it mutated with the vampire gene. Now she's a hybrid, part wolf, part vampire,"

"She doesn't smell nasty anymore," Leah's son, Jonah cried

Embry looked at us wide eyed, "She has a heartbeat," he gasped

I nodded with a huge grin, "The thing about the wolf gene," I said, "Is that she's also part human again,"

"Just hold your horses one damn minute!" Billy bellowed over everyone's whispers, "So she's different. She's still part vampire did you all miss that? How do we know she's still not dangerous, and what about the tribe? She could still cause more to make the transformation,"

Trust Billy to rain on the parade I rolled my eyes, "In all honesty, we don't know whether she'll cause anymore Quileute's to change, but Carlisle ran a lot of tests on her. She's doesn't even have blood lust anymore, she still needs blood for sustenance, but she can only hunt in her wolf form." I explained

"Carlisle said she's probably 65 percent Quileute and 45 percent vampire, her wolf instincts win out in her every time," Jacob added

"So she's just going to forget her vampire side and act completely on her wolf side?" Leah asked incredulously, "So when a vamp strolls into town and the pack need to take it out, she's going to join in and kill her own kind or half kind?" Leah sneered

"The treaty will stay in tact," Sarah assured her, "Any vampires that enter our lands we will take out providing their eyes are red. Our first priority is to protect the people" She said, "But any vampires with golden eyes that pass through are off-limits. It means they don't hunt humans and I will talk to them and explain the rules of our treaty,"

"So what side of the treaty lines will you stand?" Paul asked, Jacob glared at him

"I don't see why I would need to choose since I am the only unbiased party," She said, I was so proud of her.

"So all of a sudden you think you're in charge," Billy said to her with raised eyebrows

Jacob grinned, this is what he was waiting for, "Well, technically, she is. Sarah is the alpha," he said. That grabbed everyone's attention.

"What?" Billy managed to choke out

"Sarah is part of the pack now, she can make the change into a wolf and she is my oldest child," Jacob explained, "She has the strongest lineage,"

"She's the rightful alpha so I let her take my place," Caleb shrugged

"Making Caleb my rightful second in command," Sarah added and grinned at her brother

"This is fantastic," Sam smiled and walked over to Sarah he wrapped his arms around her and it made my heart swell, "What has happened to you is nothing short of a miracle,"

Jared nodded his agreement, "I'm pleased for you, kid," he winked at her

Soon everyone besides Leah and Billy we're rushing over to Sarah hugging her, telling her how wonderful it is that this has happened to her. I put my fingers to my damp cheeks. I was just so overwhelmed and so happy at that moment I had begun to cry. I grinned at my husband who was also smiling brightly until his eyes fell on his father who didn't look impressed. I never expected any less from Leah, she was permanently bitter about everything, but Billy. I couldn't understand why this wouldn't make him happy.

"Dad, I thought this would be a good thing for the tribe," Jacob sounded upset

Billy found a slight smile, "I'm contemplating this, it just seems too good to be true,"

"You mean, you're not angry?" I asked, Billy shook his head,

"Why would I be angry? I'm not happy about it, and it's not exactly the best situation," he said, "But it's a lot better than the way it was," his face looked sullen then, "I am sorry for the way I have behaved to you though, son. I understand that Sarah's… condition is no fault of her own and I still love my granddaughter, but I had to do what I thought was best for the tribe."

"I know, but Dad, she wouldn't hurt anyone," Jacob argued

"We couldn't have known, but I suppose now that she doesn't have a blood lust, she's safe to be around," he sighed

"Thanks," Jacob muttered and rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around me planting a kiss on my forehead. We watched on as everyone surrounded Sarah, asking her questions about what she can do, what it's like to be a hybrid. And Sarah happily answered all their questions and they seemed to ease around her even more, not seeming to care anymore that she still had a vampire side.

Leah and Billy were no longer in the room, Jacob had noticed too and he sighed, "It's not going to be easy, you know how hard it is for your father to admit he's wrong. It's going to take time but you guys will work it out," I rubbed his arm gently.

"Speaking of father's," Jacob said, "Charlie should know Sarah's back from her… travels," he grinned "We all know he misses her and Sarah misses him too, now she no longer has the blood lust and she doesn't look too different he'll be able to see her again, no questions asked," I smiled, Charlie had missed Sarah lots, he called asking about her all the time. I should also call Renee. "Maybe we should invite him for dinner tomorrow," Jacob suggested

I turned back to watch Sarah surrounded by the people who love her, who will always love her. Seth kept hold of her hand and Sarah was smiling. I don't think I'd ever seen her so happy before. I looked over to Caleb, he was smiling too. Both of my children were happy, my husband and I were happy and that's all a mother asks for. I was so lucky.

"I love you, Bella." Jacob whispered into my ear

I smiled, "I love you too, Jacob Black,"


End file.
